ORATION 


HENRY  PRATT  FAIRCHILD 


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THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

NEW  VORK   •    BOSTON   •    CHICAGO  -    DALLAS 
ATLANTA   •    SAN    FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  Limited 

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THE  MACMILLAN  CO.  OF  CANADA,  Ltd. 

TORONTO 


IMMIGRATION 


A  WORLD    MOVEMENT   AND    ITS 
AMERICAN   SIGNIFICANCE 


BY 
HENRY    PRATT    FAIRCHILD 


THE   MACMILLAN   COMPANY 
1914 

AH  rights  reserved 


Copyright,  1913, 
By  the  MACMILLAN  COMPANY. 


Set  up  and  electrotyped.     Published  May,  1913.     Reprinted 
August,  1914. 


7 

J4  ^^t'; 


Carina  ot)  ilress 

J.  S.  Cushinp  Co.  —  Berwick  &  Smith  Co. 

Norwood,  Mass.,  U.S.A. 


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GIFT 


ALBERT  GALLOWAY  KELLER 

INSPIRING    TEACHER 

CONSTANT    FRIEND 


m8'JIK'33 


PREFACE 

In  the  preparation  of  this  book  the  author  has  en- 
deavored to  avoid  that  narrowness  of  treatment  which 
so  easily  besets  the  writer  on  such  a  topic  as  immigra- 
tion. The  effort  has  been  made  to  regard  immigration, 
not  simply  as  an  "American  public  problem,"  but  as 
a  sociological  phenomenon  of  world-wide  significance. 
While  the  primary  viewpoint  is  that  of  a  citizen  of  the 
United  States,  several  other  viewpoints  are  considered, 
and  regarded  as  equally  valid.  It  is  pointed  out  that 
there  are  a  number  of  interests  to  be  taken  into  account, 
aside  from  those  of  the  native  American  workman,  or 
even  of  the  American  nation  as  a  whole.  The  immigra- 
tion question  is  set  forth  as  a  part  of  an  inclusive 
conservation  program  for  all  humanity.  The  modern 
situation  is  placed  in  its  appropriate  historical  setting. 
Particularly,  it  is  demonstrated  that  the  popular  notion 
that  a  belief  in  restriction  is  inconsistent  with  sympathy 
for  the  immigrant  is  false.  The  restricfionist  may  be 
the  truest  friend  of  the  ahen. 

At  the  same  time,  this  book  does  not  profess  to  be  an 
exhaustive  treatise  on  immigration.  To  deal  with  this 
question  exhaustively,  as  Dr.  Leopold  Caro  has  pointed 
out,  is  too  much  of  an  undertaking  for  a  single  man  in 
a  lifetime.  This  is  for  two  reasons.  In  the  first  place, 
the  mass  of  data  is  too  great,  involving  the  intimate  his- 
tory of  most  of  the  civilized  nations  of  the  world  for  a 
period  of  from  half  a  century  to  three  centuries.  In 
the  second  place,  the  subject  is  highly  dynamic.  It  is  a 
present  movement,  displaying  aspects  which   are  con- 

vii 


viii  PREFACE 

tinually  changing,  and  embodying  relations  which  are 
constantly  shifting.  The  student  is  prevented  by  his 
human  limitations  from  keeping  his  information  up-to- 
date  in  every  particular. 

•For  these  reasons  the  purely  descriptive  features  of 
such  a  book  must  necessarily  be  limited  in  scope  and 
subject  to  inaccuracy.  The  writer  is  constantly  con- 
strained to  qualify  his  general  statements  in  the  effort 
to  avoid  dogmatism  or  positive  error.  But  the  purely 
descriptive  features  are,  after  all,  of  secondary  impor- 
tance. The  fundamental  matters  are  the  laws  or  prin- 
ciples which  underlie  the  great  type  of  population 
movement  which  we  call  immigration,  and  these  are 
relatively  constant  and  unchanging.  It  is  a  knowledge 
of  these  principles  which  fits  one  to  understand  the 
movement  in  its  ever  changing  aspects,  and  to  grapple 
with  it  as  a  problem  of  practical  politics  or  sociology. 
To  define  and  clarify  the  concepts  involved,  to  set  forth 
clearly  the  laws  and  principles,  and  to  point  out  the 
opportunities  and  responsibilities,  is  the  chief  aim  of  this 
book. 

These  considerations  account  for  the  summary  treat- 
ment of  some  topics,  and  the  omission  of  others.  Some 
aspects  of  the  question  may  seem  to  have  received  more 
attention,  others  less,  than  their  relative  importance 
would  warrant.  Thus  the  section  on  crises,  exhibiting 
as  it  does  the  intricate  relationship  between  immigration 
and  one  of  our  most  important  economic  problems,  also 
suggests  other  equally  detailed  analytical  studies  which 
might  be  made ;  as,  for  instance,  the  relation  between 
immigration  and  strikes,  or  child  labor,  or  public  educa- 
tion. The  discussion  of  the  effect  of  emigration  on  the 
countries  of  Europe,  while  dealing  with  a  topic  of  equal 
importance  with  the  effects  on  the   United   States,   is 


PREFACE  ix 

manifestly  only  suggestive  in  character.  Only  such 
tables  have  been  included  as  are  necessary  for  illustra- 
tion or  demonstration.  The  statistical  matter  on  immi- 
gration is  now  so  voluminous  that  it  is  impracticable  to 
include  it  in  a  treatise  dealing  with  the  general  aspects 
of  the  situation  in  a  narrative  manner. 

Some  portions  of  this  book  have  already  appeared  in 
print.  The  section  on  crises  is  practically  a  reprint  of 
an  article  entitled  "  Immigration  and  Crises,"  which  ap- 
peared in  t\\Q.  Avierican  Economic  Revieiv  iov  December, 
191 1.  The  discussion  of  the  effects  of  immigration  on 
population  reproduces  almost  verbatim  an  article,  "  The 
Paradox  of  Immigration,"  which  was  printed  in  the 
American  yojirnal  of  Sociology  for  September,  191 1. 
An  article  entitled  "  Some  Immigration  Differences," 
printed  in  the  Yale  Review  for  May,  1910,  contained 
matter  which  has  been  incorporated  in  different  por- 
tions of  this  book.  To  the  editors  of  these  three  jour- 
nals the  author  extends  his  thanks  for  permission  to  use 
this  material  in  the  present  volume. 

The  author  wishes  to  acknowledge  his  indebtedness 
to  Professor  Albert  G.  Keller,  Professor  Roswell  C. 
McCrea,  and  Professor  Allen  Johnson,  who  have  read 
the  manuscript  wholly  or  in  part,  and  have  made  many 
helpful  suggestions. 

H.  P.  F. 

New  Haven,  Connecticut, 
April  9,  1913. 


TABLE    OF    CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 

I.    Introduction 

11.     The  United  States.     Colonial  Period     . 
III.     1783  TO  1820  

IV.   1820  TO  i860  

V.   i860  TO  1882  

v/VI.     Modern  Period.     Federal  Legislation     . 

vVII.     Volume  and  Racial  Composition  of  the  Immi 

GRATiON  Stream 

-VIII.    The  Causes  of  Immigration 

IX.     The  Effects  of  Immigration.     Conditions  of 

Embarkation  and  Transportation 

V  X.     Inspection.     Social  and  Economic  Conditions 

OF  Arriving  Immigrants   .... 

^^I.     Conditions  of  Immigrants  in  the  United  States 
Effects  on  Population.     Distribution  . 

,   XII.     Co^DiTiOiiS  (Conf/nued).     The  Standard  of  Liv 

ing 

XIII.     The  Standard  of  Living  {Continued') 

V  XIV.    The  Exploitation  of  Immigrants.     Religion 

Births,  Marriages,  and  Deaths.    Recreation 

XV.    Conditions  affecting   the  Country.     Wages 

Pauperism.     Crime.     Insanity 

XVI.     Industrial  Effects.     Crises.     Social   Strati 

FiCATioN.    Political  Effects  . 

XVII.    The  New  Problem  of  Immigration    . 

XVIII.     The  Nature  of  the  Problem     . 

XIX.     Other  Points  of  View 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 
INDEX 


PAGE 
I 


SI 
61 

90 

106 

123 
144 

163 

183 
213 

258 

274 

301 

341 
369 
381 
416 

439 
45' 


XI 


IMMIGRATION 


CHAPTER  I 

INTRODUCTION 

The  study  of  immigration  is  a  part  of  the  study  of 
the  dispersion  of  the  human  race  over  the  surface  of  the 
earth,  but  only  one  of  the  most  recent  parts.  The 
most  important  population  movements  by  which  the 
habitable  portions  of  the  globe  became  peopled  took 
place  long  before  there  was  anything  which  might 
accurately  be  styled  immigration.  The  dawn  of  the 
historical  period  found  the  principal  sections  of  the 
earth's  surface  already  inhabited  by  races  not  widely 
different  from  those  now  native  to  them. 

About  the  early  movements  by  which  man  was  scat- 
tered from  his  original  home  to  the  four  corners  of  the 
globe  we  have  as  yet  Httle  definite  information.  It 
seems  safe  to  conclude  that  they  must  have  resembled 
the  instinctive  movements  of  animals  more  closely  than 
the  rational  movements  of  modern  man.  They  must 
have  been  gradual,  by  slow  stages,  and  in  immediate 
response  to  the  demands  of  the  food  supply  or  of  the 
changing  climate.  Such  movements,  which  may  be 
designated  by  the  term  "wandering,"  were  the  necessary 
precursors  of  the  more  recent  developments.  They 
furnish  the  background  for  the  historic  period,  and 
constitute    the    original    factors    in    modern    relations. 

B  X 


2  IMMIGRATION 

They  may  be  taken  for  granted,  and  a  detailed  knowl- 
edge of  them  is  not  necessary  for  an  understanding  or 
investigation  of  such  a  historic  question  as  immigration. 

The  word  "immigration"  is  one  of  those  terms  which 
are  in  common  use  in  everyday  speech,  and  which 
convey  a  certain  general  impression  to  the  hearer,  but 
which  need  to  be  given  a  limited  and  specific  meaning 
when  used  in  a  scientific  study.  Many  vague  and 
erroneous  notions  about  immigration  may  be  traced  to 
the  failure  of  those  using  the  word  to  form  an  exact 
idea  of  its  connotation.  Particularly  is  it  necessary  to 
distinguish  clearly  between  immigration  and  certain  other 
forms  of  population  movements  to  which  the  term  is 
frequently  applied. 

There  are  three  of  these  forms  of  movement.  They 
all  fall  within  the  historical  period,  and  consequently 
we  have  some  definite  information  about  them.  They 
may  be  designated  as  invasion,  conquest,  and  coloniza- 
tion. These,  with  immigration,  all  have  this  in  com- 
mon, that  they  are  reasoned  movements  arising  after 
man  had  progressed  far  enough  in  the  scale  of  civiliza- 
tion to  have  a  fixed  abiding  place.  That  is,  they  are 
definite  movements  from  one  place  to  another.  This 
distinguishes  them  from  what  has  been  called  "wander- 
ing," and  justifies  including  them  in  a  separate  category, 
to  which  the  general  name  "migration"  may  be  given. 
In  using  this  term  for  this  purpose,  however,  we  must 
rid  our  minds  of  the  association  which  it  has  with  the 
movements  of  animals  and  birds.  When  we  speak  of 
the  migrations  of  birds  we  customarily  refer  to  seasonal 
changes  of  location,  occurring  regularly  year  by  year. 
They  are  not  cases  of  a  change  of  home,  but  of  having 
two  homes  at  the  same  time. 


INTRODUCTION  3 

Man,  too,  has  his  seasonal  movements.  It  is  a  very 
common  practice  of  primitive  men  to  move  from  one 
location  to  another  at  different  times  in  the  year  in  the 
pursuit  of  food,  seeking  a  certain  locaUty  at  the  time 
that  a  particular  fruit  ripens  there,  or  a  certain  bird 
lays  its  eggs.  "The  Haida  Indians  of  British  Columbia 
annually  voyage  as  many  as  500  miles  southward  to 
Puget  Sound  to  lay  in  a  supply  of  dried  clams  and  oysters 
for  their  own  consumption  and  for  trade."  ^  Many 
nomadic  tribes  follow  the  pasture  from  the  lowlands 
to  the  highlands,  and  from  south  to  north,  as  the 
seasons  change.  Even  civilized  man,  in  his  highest 
development,  has  his  seasonal  journeyings,  from  his 
summer  home  to  his  winter  home,  and  back.  But 
none  of  these  comings  and  goings  deserve  to  be  included 
as  true  movements  of  peoples,  or  to  be  called  migrations 
in  the  present  sense.  Migration  involves  an  actual  and 
permanent  change  of  residence.  It  thus  becomes  evi- 
dent that  migrations  can  occur  only  in  the  most 
rudimentary  form  among  people  in  the  hunting  stage ; 
more  developed  cases  may  occur  among  pastoral  people, 
when  they  change  their  base  of  operation,  as  when  the 
Israelites  moved  from  Canaan  into  Egypt,  and  back 
after  several  generations ;  but  in  its  most  complete 
form,  migration  appears  only  after  man  has  reached 
the  agricultural  stage. 

Since  man,  when  he  migrates,  leaves  a  fixed  home 
in  response  to  a  rational  impulse,  there  must  be  some 
definable  cause  for  the  migration.  There  are  certain 
general  causes  which  are  found  to  underHe  all  migratory 
movements,  and  which  are  worthy  of  examination.     In 

'  Mason,  Otis  T.,  "  Migration  and  the  Food  Quest,"  American  Anthropologist, 
7 :  279. 


4  IMMIGRATION 

the  first  place  we  find  that  the  cause  of  a  migratory 
movement  must  be  a  powerful  one.  Man  inevitably 
becomes  attached  to  the  locality  in  which  he  finds  him- 
self placed.  Bonds  of  many  kinds  arise  to  tie  him  to  his 
home.  Among  these  may  be  mentioned  family  con- 
nections, sentimental  associations,  familiar  customs  and 
habits  of  the  community,  political  and  rehgious  attach- 
ments, business  interests,  property  owned,  superstitious 
veneration  for  graves.  All  of  these,  and  others,  unite 
to  make  the  home  ties  very  strong.  The  life  of  man  is 
closely  bound  up  with  his  environment,  and  a  change  of 
environment  is  a  momentous  event.  As  a  result,  there 
is  a  marked  inertia,  a  resistance  to  pressure,  among 
human  beings,  and  the  presumption  is  that  people  will 
stay  where  they  are,  unless  some  positive  force  causes 
them  to  move.     And  no  trivial  occasion  will  suffice. 

This  force,  which  results  in  movement,  may  be  a 
very  complex  one,  but  in  general  it  must  present  one 
of  two  aspects  —  it  must  be  either  attractive  or  repel- 
lent. Men  are  either  drawn  or  driven  to  break  the  ties 
which  bind  them  to  their  native  locahty.  The  attrac- 
tive force  must,  of  course,  exist  in  the  country  which  is 
the  objective  point,  the  repellent  force,  in  the  existing 
environment.  This  distinction  is  well  brought  out  by 
Professor  Otis  T.  Mason,  who  classifies  the  causes  of 
migration  into  "positive"  —  advantages,  satisfactions, 
etc.  —  and  ''negative"  —  discomforts,  compulsions,  etc.^ 
In  view  of  the  strength  of  the  "home  ties,"  however,  it 
is  evident  that  the  repellent  type  of  forces  must  be  much 
the  more  important.  It  would  have  to  be  a  very  al- 
luring prospect  indeed  that  would  lead  a  man  to  leave  a 

'  Mason,  Otis  T.,  "  Migration  and  the  Food  Quest."  American  Anthropolo- 
gist, 7 :  275. 


INTRODUCTION  5 

spot  where  he  was  contented.  In  fact  we  can  hardly 
conceive  of  a  man  deserting  a  spot  where  he  was  really 
contented.  There  must  be  some  dissatisfaction  with 
existing  conditions  to  induce  him  to  take  the  step.  At- 
tractions often  operate  by  inducing  dissatisfactions, 
through  comparison.  There  is  no  attraction  in  a  foreign 
region  unless  it  seems  superior  to  the  home  surroundings. 
Then  the  home  conditions  appear  inferior,  and  there  is 
dissatisfaction.  This  is  what  Professor  Sumner  called 
a  process  of  idealization. 

It  may  be  well,  also,  to  distinguish  between  the  causes 
and  motives  of  migration.  Motives  are  subjective  feel- 
ings existing  within  the  individual  which  inspire  his 
actions.  They  are  the  immediate  forces  which  lead  to 
movement,  and  may  be  divided  into  the  same  two 
general  classes  as  causes.  Causes  are  objective  forces 
or  conditions  existing  outside  of  the  individual,  which 
react  upon  him.  They  may  exist  in  the  physical  en- 
vironment or  in  the  human  environment,  and  operate  by 
arousing  motives,  which  in  turn  are  the  immediate 
springs  of  conduct.  Since  human  nature  is  everywhere 
enough  alike  so  that  similar  causes  arouse  similar  motives, 
and  since  motives  can  hardly  arise  without  some  exterior 
cause,  in  our  search  for  the  origins  of  migratory  move- 
ments it  will  ordinarily  be  sufficient  to  examine  merely 
the  causes.  Thus  in  almost  every  case  of  migration  we 
are  justified  in  looking  for  some  cause  of  a  repellent 
nature,  some  dissatisfaction,  disability,  discontent,  hard- 
ship, or  other  disturbing  condition.^ 

These  discomforts  may  arise  in  any  of  the  various 

'  Professor  A.  G.  Keller  brinps  out  this  point  in  his  unpublished  lectures  on 
Colonization,  where  the  causes  of  emigration  arc  classified  under  unsatisfactory 
conditions  of  environment,  either  physical  or  hiunan.  He  also  emphasizes  the 
strength  of  the  home  tie  in  resisting  emigration. 


6  IMMIGRATION 

interests  of  human  life,  and  may  be  classified  according 
to  almost  any  classification  which  will  include  those 
interests.  Probably  the  most  satisfactory  is  the  famihar 
one  of  Economic,  Pohtical,  Social,  and  Religious.  The 
economic  causes  of  migrations  are  the  earliest  and  by 
far  the  most  important.  They  arise  in  connection  with 
man's  efforts  to  make  Ms  living,  and  concern  all  interests 
which  are  connected  with  his  productive  efforts.  They 
are  disabilities  or  handicaps  which  affect  his  pursuit  of 
food,  clothing,  and  shelter,  as  well  as  the  less  necessary 
comforts  of  fife.  These  are  vital  interests,  and  any  dis- 
satisfaction connected  with  them  is  of  great  weight  with 
men. 

There  is  a  wide  variety  of  economic  causes  of  migration, 
of  which  the  following  may  be  noted.  Permanent 
natural  inhospitableness  of  soil  or  cHmate  or  scarcity 
of  natural  resources  may  make  the  struggle  for  exist- 
ence a  perpetually  hard  one.  Temporary  natural 
calamities,  such  as  drought,  famine,  flood,  extreme 
seasons,  etc.,  may  interrupt  the  course  of  an  ordinarily 
tolerable  existence.  Serious  underdevelopment  of  the 
industrial  arts  may  make  life  difficult  in  a  nation  by 
hmiting  the  productive  power  of  its  citizens  or  handi- 
capping them  in  the  struggle  for  trade.  A  common 
economic  cause  of  migration  is  overpopulation.  This 
means  that  the  population  of  a  region  has  increased  to 
the  point  where,  under  the  existing  industrial  conditions, 
there  are  too  many  people  for  the  supporting  power  of  the 
soil.  In  man's  struggle  with  nature  for  a  time  an  in- 
crease in  numbers  is  an  advantage.  But  there  comes  a 
point  where  the  ratio  between  men  and  land  reaches 
such  an  equilibrium  that  any  increase  in  the  number  of 
men  means  a  smaller  amount  of  the  materials  of  existence 


INTRODUCTION  7 

for  each  one.^  This  results  in  hardship  and  dissatis- 
faction. Many  migratory  movements,  particularly  in 
the  case  of  primitive  men,  or  men  on  a  low  stage  of  cul- 
ture, may  be  very  simply  explained  by  overpopulation. 

Political  causes  are  those  connected  with  the  organiza- 
tion of  government  or  the  actions  of  the  governing 
power.  In  this  case  the  dissatisfaction  arises  from  the 
failure  of  the  individual  or  group  to  secure  what  is  be- 
Meved  to  be  a  rightful  share  in  the  control  of  the  govern- 
ment, or  in  some  positive  repressive  or  persecuting 
measures  on  the  part  of  the  governing  body  toward  some 
of  its  citizens.  Hence  we  may  look  for  motives  of  in- 
fringed hberty,  lack  of  freedom,  or  the  feehng  of  oppres- 
sion. A  bad  government  may  put  such  handicaps  on 
the  entire  body  of  its  citizens  as  to  make  Ufe  unsatis- 
factory to  them. 

Where  social  causes  of  migration  exist,  the  dissatis- 
faction arises  from  some  fault  in  the  social  organization. 
Some  classes  or  individuals  are  subjected  to  a  fceUng 
of  inferiority  to  other  classes  or  individuals.  A  caste,  or 
aristocratic,  organization  of  society  gives  certain  classes 
an  advantage  over  others,  and  makes  it  impossible  for 
the  lower  classes  to  rise  to  a  higher  level.  In  case  people 
Hving  under  these  conditions  learn  of  another  region 
where  advancement  is  possible,  migration  may  easily 
ensue. 

Rehgious  causes  include  those  cases  where  restrictions 
are  placed  on  certain  members  of  the  body  politic  be- 
cause of  their  rehgious  beliefs  or  practices.  There  may 
be  actual  persecution,  though  this  is  coming  to  be  some- 

'  Henry  George  does  not  appear  to  recognize  this  dividing  line,  but  seems  to 
regard  an  indefinite  increase  of  numbers  as  bearing  with  it  the  possibility  of 
improvement.  The  opposite  view  is  maintained  by  Professor  Irving  Fisher, 
Elementary  Principles  of  Economics,  pp.  434  fif. 


8  IMMIGRATION 

what  rare  in  modern  times.  The  oppression  may  mani- 
fest itself  in  various  disadvantages,  imposed  on  other 
interests  of  life,  but  which  are  primarily  due  to  religious 
differences.  The  great  historical  example  of  this  class  of 
causes  is  found  in  the  case  of  the  Jews. 

All  of  these  kinds  of  causes  may  overlap,  and  almost 
always  two  or  more  of  them  exist  in  conjunction.  Cases 
where  social  causes  alone  account  for  a  migration  are 
rare.  They  are  frequently,  however,  a  contributory 
factor.  The  economic  causes  are  by  far  the  most  im- 
portant and  universal,  though  we  need  frequently  to 
look  for  other  causes  back  of  them.  Pohtical  maladjust- 
ments often  express  themselves  through  economic  or 
social  disabilities,  rehgious  differences  through  economic 
and  social  limitations,  etc.  In  any  actual  case  of  migra- 
tion it  is  probable  that  the  motives  of  migration  will 
be  due  to  a  complication  of  causes.  This  fourfold 
classification,  however,  is  of  great  aid  in  isolating  and 
understanding  the  underlying  forces. 

The  effects  of  migratory  movements,  involving  the 
transference  of  bodies  of  people  from  one  region  to 
another,  are  far-reaching  and  extremely  diversified. 
They  concern  both  the  country  of  origin  and  the  country 
of  destination.  They  differ  widely  in  specific  cases,  so 
much  so  that  it  is  scarcely  possible  to  lay  down  any  gen- 
eral rules  or  conclusions  which  will  be  of  value.  They 
manifest  themselves  under  three  main  heads,  viz.  the 
density  of  population,  the  physical  stock,  and  the  customs 
and  institutions,  or  mores.  The  most  obvious  effect, 
and  the  one  which  is  commonly  assumed  to  follow  any 
migration,  is  a  decrease  in  the  population  of  the  country 
of  source,  and  an  increase  in  that  of  the  country  of  des- 
tination.    But  even  this,  as  will  appear  hereafter,  is  not 


INTRODUCTION  9 

by  any  means  the  universal  rule.  There  is  commonly 
some  effect  on  the  physical  stock  of  the  country  receiving 
the  migrants.  This  effect  may  vary  between  wide  ex- 
tremes. Whether  the  customs  and  institutions  shall  be 
also  affected  depends  upon  a  variety  of  circumstances 
wliich  are  likely  to  make  each  instance  distinctive.  There 
is  scarcely  one  of  the  vital  interests  of  either  country  con- 
cerned which  may  not  be  deeply  affected  by  an  impor- 
tant migratory  movement.  But  the  factors  concerned 
are  so  complicated,  and  so  subject  to  individual  varia- 
tion, that  movements  which  bear  a  general  resemblance 
may  have  very  diverse  effects,  and  each  case  must  be 
studied  by  itself. 

As  to  the  routes  or  channels  of  migratory  movements, 
it  may  be  said  that  in  general  they  follow  the  lines  of 
least  resistance,  as  determined  by  the  combination  of 
all  the  forces  involved.  The  closer  the  movement  is 
to  a  purely  natural  one,  the  more  it  will  follow  the  natural 
routes  marked  out  by  the  configuration  of  the  earth. 
River  valleys,  such  as  the  Danube  in  Europe  and  the 
Ohio  in  America,  have  always  been  favorite  migratory 
routes.  If  mountains  have  to  be  traversed,  the  easiest 
passes  will  be  chosen,  such  as  the  Cumberland  Gap  in 
the  United  States.  In  general,  water  has  been  a  bond 
and  not  a  barrier  between  different  lands,  and  the  earliest 
routes  of  distant  travel  were  undoubtedly  by  water. 
Greece  became  the  source  of  numerous  migratory  move- 
ments partly  because  of  her  extended  coast  line.^ 

Having  thus  considered  some  of  the  essential  features 
of  migration  as  a  whole,  it  will  be  well  to  distinguish 
further  between  the  four  great  types  of  migrations  to 

'  Cf.  Brycc,  James,  "  Migrations  of  the  Races  of  Men  Considered  Histori- 
cally," Contemporary  Review,  62  :  128. 


lo  IMMIGRATION 

which  reference  has  been  made.  One  of  the  earhest, 
simplest,  and  most  natural  of  migratory  movements  is 
the  invasion.  This  occurs  when  a  rude  people,  on  a  low 
stage  of  culture,  but  with  much  native  physical  virility, 
leaves  its  location,  and  overruns  the  territory  of  a  more 
highly  developed  state.  It  is  a  movement  en  jnasse, 
involving  the  whole,  or  a  large  portion,  of  the  tribe. 
The  tribe  acts  as  a  unit,  and  the  end  sought  is  the  benefit 
of  the  tribe  as  a  tribe,  not  of  any  individuals.  The  forces 
back  of  it  approach  the  unconscious  and  irrational, 
characteristic  of  wandering,  more  closely  than  in  any 
other  form  of  migration. 

The  power  of  the  invasion  lies  in  brute  force  and 
numbers.  It  is  a  case  of  a  lower  civiHzation  tempo- 
rarily overcoming  a  higher  one  —  temporarily,  because 
the  rude  virihty  which  enables  the  invaders  to  maintain 
their  own  customs  for  a  time  succumbs  eventually  to 
the  enervating  influence  of  a  civilization  to  which  it  is 
not  trained.  Civilization  in  the  end  proves  itself  more 
permanent  than  barbarism.  This  result  is  often 
furthered  by  the  fact  that  the  physical  stock  of  the 
higher  race  is  improved  by  the  infusion  of  new  blood 
from  the  very  foreigners  who  are  attacking  it.  This 
effect  upon  the  physical  stock  may  be  very  profound 
and  lasting,  as  an  invasion  customarily  involves  large 
numbers  of  people.  But  while  the  invaders  may  succeed 
in  checking  the  progress  of  civihzation  for  a  time,  they 
seldom  leave  any  permanent  monuments  of  themselves, 
either  material  or  institutional.  They  are  not  likely 
to  affect  the  language,  religion,  or  social  customs  of  the 
invaded  nation  to  an  important  degree.  The  mores 
are  more  enduring  than  the  racial  stock  of  the  people 
who  possess  them. 


INTRODUCTION  ii 

There  have  been  numerous  instances  of  invasions  in 
the  history  of  Europe.  In  fact,  the  barbarian  invasions 
are  perhaps  the  most  important  single  factor  in  the  his- 
tory of  that  continent  during  the  Dark  Ages.  An  ex- 
cellent example  is  furnished  by  the  Goths,  particularly 
by  the  eastern  division  of  that  people.  The  original 
home  of  this  people  was  in  East  Prussia,  near  the  Baltic 
and  the  Vistula,  where  they  were  known  in  Roman  days 
as  traders  in  amber.  There  were  two  principal  branches, 
the  western  or  Visigoths,  and  the  eastern  or  Ostrogoths. 
Their  physical  and  mental  characters  were  well  marked 
and  definite.  In  physique  they  were  tall,  blond,  and 
athletic,  in  disposition  brave  and  generous,  patient 
under  hardship,  chaste  and  affectionate  in  their  family 
relations.  As  to  their  habits  of  Hfe  before  their  migra- 
tion, we  have  no  very  complete  picture.  In  general, 
they  seem  to  have  been  Hving  on  the  pastoral-agricul- 
tural stage.  They  had  no  cities  or  villages,  but  Hved  in 
scattered  dwelHngs  upon  farms,  which  they  cultivated 
with  the  aid  of  slaves  descended  from  captives.  Much 
of  the  land  was  held  in  common,  and  upon  it  were  pas- 
tured the  vast  herds  of  cattle  which  constituted  their 
chief  subsistence.  The  powers  of  government  were 
centraHzed  in  a  king,  chosen  by  popular  voice  from 
certain  great  families.  They  had  progressed  far  enough 
in  learning  to  have  an  alphabet,  but  had  not  developed 
any  written  literature. 

It  is  evident,  then,  that  the  Goths  were  a  settled 
people,  and  while  the  ties  which  bound  them  to  their 
home  land  were  not  very  complex,  and  they  were  un- 
doubtedly used  to  long  warlike  expeditions,  yet  there 
must  have  been  some  powerful  motives  to  induce  them  to 
leave  a  land  where  they  had  become  so  well  established. 


12  IMMIGRATION 

As  to  the  exact  nature  of  these  motives,  and  the  causes 
which  lay  back  of  them,  there  is  no  accurate  record. 
It  is  not  probable  that  they  were  driven  out  by  the  pres- 
sure of  stronger  neighbors.  "Most  likely  it  was  simply 
the  natural  increase  of  their  population,  aided  perhaps 
by  the  failure  of  their  harvests  or  the  outbreak  of  a 
pestilence,  that  made  them  sensible  of  the  poverty  of 
their  country,  and  led  them  to  cast  longing  eyes  towards 
the  richer  and  more  genial  lands  farther  to  the  south,  of 
which  they  had  heard,  and  which  some  of  them  may 
have  visited."  ^  This  explanation  is  admittedly  largely 
based  on  guess.  But  it  has  every  element  of  probability 
and  marks  the  movement  of  the  Goths  as  a  perfectly 
typical  example  of  a  migration  due  to  economic  causes, 
natural  overpopulation,  augmented  by  temporary 
natural  calamity,  arousing  motives  of  dissatisfaction 
through  comparison  with  other  seemingly  more  desir- 
able regions. 

Whatever  the  causes,  the  Goths  determined  to  move. 
Uniting  with  the  Gepids,  Herules,  and  some  other 
kindred  peoples,  they  formed  a  great  throng,  which 
moved  through  what  is  now  western  Russia  to  the  shores 
of  the  Black  Sea  and  the  Sea  of  Azov.  Thence  they 
journeyed  westward  to  the  north  bank  of  the  Danube. 
On  the  way  they  were  joined  by  other  groups  of  people, 
of  Slavonic  race.  Their  real  history  may  be  said  to 
begin  about  245  a.d.,  when  they  were  living  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Danube,  under  the  rule  of  the  Ostrogoths. 
For  about  twenty  years  they  had  been  the  allies  of  the 
Romans,  who  paid  them  money  to  defend  their  borders 
from    the    attacks    of    other    would-be    invaders.     The 

1  Bradley,  H.,  The  Story  oj  the  Goths,  p.  21.  Cf.  Von  Pflugk-Harttung,  J., 
The  Great  Migrations,  p.  no. 


INTRODUCTION  13 

Roman  emperor,  Philip  the  Arab,  put  an  end  to  this 
payment,  thereby  arousing  the  anger  of  the  Ostrogoths, 
who  crossed  the  Danube  and  plundered  the  Roman  prov- 
inces. This  was  the  beginning  of  a  long  series  of  in- 
vasions extending  down  into  Greece  and  Asia  Minor. 
Many  cities  were  plundered  cruelly  and  brutally.  For- 
tunately for  civilization,  however,  the  Goths  had  been 
converted  to  Christianity  in  the  meantime,  so  that  the 
army  which  finally  entered  and  devastated  Rome  in 
the  year  410  was  not  the  utterly  barbarous  throng  which 
had  started  on  the  journey  from  northern  Europe. 
Their  leader,  Alaric,  was  himself  a  Christian  and  did 
what  he  could  to  restrain  the  natural  passions  of  his 
followers.  Yet  in  spite  of  all,  the  sack  of  Rome  was  a 
cruel  and  bloodthirsty  affair. 

It  is  characteristic  of  an  invasion  that  over  two  cen- 
turies were  consumed  in  the  journey  from  the  old  home 
to  Rome,  so  that  no  single  individual  of  those  who 
started  on  the  undertaking  lived  to  reach  the  final  des- 
tination. For  nearly  a  century  and  a  half  after  the  fall 
of  Rome  the  Ostrogoths  hved  in  or  near  Italy.  Their 
fortunes  in  war  fluctuated,  and  for  a  time,  under  Theod- 
oric,  they  were  the  masters  of  the  peninsula.  Their 
kindred,  the  Visigoths,  were  in  the  meantime  settled 
in  Gaul  and  Spain.  Finally,  in  the  year  553,  after  re- 
peated reverses,  the  Ostrogoths  retired  from  Italy  to  the 
north,  and  as  a  people  disappeared  from  history,  lea\ing 
scarcely  a  trace  behind.  The  Franks  were  never  driven 
from  Gaul,  but  eventually  lost  their  native  language 
and  became  absorbed  in  the  people  whom  they  had  in- 
vaded. The  Goths  "  have  bequeathed  to  the  world  no 
treasures  of  literature,  no  masterpieces  of  art,  no  splendid 
buildings.     They  have  left  no  conscious  impress  on  the 


14  IMMIGRATION 

manners  or  the  institutions  of  any  modem  European 
people."  ^  Even  Gothic  architecture  has  no  historic 
connection  with  the  people  whose  name  it  bears. 

Other  barbarian  tribes  invaded  Europe  at  about  the 
same  time  as  the  Goths,  and  during  the  succeeding 
centuries.  One  of  the  most  powerful  was  the  Huns,  a 
people  of  rude  culture  but  great  virility,  belonging  prob- 
ably to  the  Mongohc  or  Tatar  stock,  who  appeared 
about  the  fourth  century  a.d.  They  were  followed  by 
other  races  from  the  same  general  region  and  belonging 
to  the  same  great  stock,  the  Avars  who  arrived  about 
555,  and  the  Magyars  who  put  in  an  appearance  at  the 
close  of  the  ninth  century.  The  most  recent  explanation 
of  the  migrations  of  these  Asiatic  tribes  is  that  their 
habitat  suffered  a  change  of  climate  from  one  of  those 
great  cycles  about  which  we  are  beginning  to  have  some 
information,  which  resulted  in  drying  up  the  region,  and 
furnishing  a  much  smaller  amount  of  subsistence  than  the 
people  had  been  accustomed  to.  This  is  overpopulation, 
and  furnishes  another  case  of  that  great  economic  cause. ^ 
Another  powerful  Asiatic  invader  was  Timur  or  Tamer- 
lane, who  with  his  Tatar  hordes  devastated  Asia  Minor 
during  the  latter  part  of  the  fourteenth  century. 

A  conquest  is  almost  the  reverse  of  an  invasion.  In 
this  case  the  people  of  higher  culture  take  the  aggressive. 
It  is  an  overflow  of  civihzation,  of  manners,  of  organiza- 
tion, of  government, — not  to  any  great  extent,  of  popula- 
tion. Conquest  occurs  when  a  well-developed  state, 
full  of  vigor,  sends  its  armies  over  the  territory  of  less 
advanced  peoples,  imposing  its  political  system  upon 

1  Bradley,  op.  cil..  p.  365.  See  this  work  for  fuller  details  of  the  Gothic  in- 
vasion. Also  Von  Pflugk-Harttung,  op.  cil.,  and  Hodgkin,  Thomas,  Theod- 
oric  the  Goth. 

'  Huntington,  Ellsworth,  The  Pulse  of  Asia,  pp.  357,  373,  383. 


INTRODUCTION  15 

them,  and  laying  them  under  tribute,  but  not  slaying  the 
people  or  destroying  their  wealth  any  more  than  is 
necessary  to  secure  subjection.  It  is  an  enterprise  of 
the  state,  seeking  its  own  glory  and  aggrandizement. 
The  movement  of  population  to  the  conquered  terri- 
tory may  be  insignificant,  and  in  this,  conquest  differs 
from  all  the  other  forms  of  migratory  movements. 
Consequently  the  eflfects  on  the  racial  stock  of  the  con- 
quered people  may  be  very  slight,  and  in  most  cases  are. 
The  effect  on  the  mores,  on  the  other  hand,  including  the 
language,  may  be  profound  and  lasting.  Conquest  differs 
from  the  other  forms  of  migration  also  in  the  fact  that 
the  motives  belong  more  nearly  to  the  positive,  or  at- 
tractive, group  than  in  any  of  the  others.  It  is  energy, 
ambition,  etc.,  which  lead  to  conquest  rather  than  fear, 
cowardice,  etc.  Many  of  the  individuals  who  change 
their  residence  under  conquest  are  state  officials,  sent 
out  in  the  pursuit  of  their  duties  to  the  sovereign,  not 
because  of  any  particular  choice  of  their  own. 

It  scarcely  need  be  said  that  the  great  historical  ex- 
ample of  conquest  is  Rome.  Her  policy  was  to  extend 
her  dominion  by  making  outlying  tribes  realize  that  it  was 
to  their  advantage  to  acknowledge  her  sway  and  pay 
tribute.  So  long  as  they  did  this  quietly  and  regularly, 
little  else  was  required  of  them.  As  far  as  possible,  the 
native  governmental  organization  was  continued,  and 
simply  grafted  on  to  the  great  Roman  stock,  the  native 
officials  being  made  subordinates  in  the  Roman  organiza- 
tion. Roman  traders  came  and  went ,  carrying  culture 
and  civilization  with  them,  and  exerting  a  powerful  in- 
fluence on  the  mores  of  the  provinces,  but  the  perma- 
nent movement  of  people  from  the  central  state  was  com- 
paratively slight.     Alexander  the  Great  was  a  spreader 


i6  IMMIGRATION 

of  conquest,  though  his  early  death  destroyed  whatever 
possibility  there  may  have  been  of  his  establishing  a 
permanent  empire.  The  career  of  the  British  govern- 
ment in  India  has  many  of  the  characteristics  of  conquest. 
Native  rajahs  are,  to  a  great  extent,  utilized  as  ofhcials 
of  the  British  government,  and  there  is  no  large  migra- 
tion of  people  from  England  to  India,  save  those  con- 
nected in  some  way  with  the  government  service,  or 
persons  engaged  in  commercial  pursuits,  who  maintain 
their  permanent  home  in  England.  But  the  influence 
on  the  mores  of  the  native  inhabitants  is  great. 

The  third  form  of  migratory  movement,  which  has  a 
particularly  close  connection  with  immigration,  is  col- 
onization. This  occurs  when  a  well-established,  pro- 
gressive, and  physically  vigorous  state  sends  out  bodies 
of  citizens,  officially  as  a  rule,  to  settle  in  certain  specified 
localities.  The  regions  chosen  are  newly  discovered  or 
thinly  settled  countries,  where  the  native  inhabitants 
are  so  few,  or  are  on  such  an  inferior  stage  of  culture  that 
they  offer  but  slight  resistance  to  the  entrance  of  the 
colonists.  For  while  the  two  previous  forms  of  migra- 
tion have  been  warlike,  colonization  is  essentially  a 
peaceful  movement.  The  rivalry  for  certain  favored 
locaHties  may  involve  the  colonizing  power  in  war  with 
other  civilized  nations  who  desire  the  same  thing,  but  as 
far  as  the  seizure  of  the  colony  itself  is  concerned,  it 
requires  slight  military  exertion.  Colonization,  like 
conquest,  is  a  state  enterprise,  conducted  for  the  benefit 
of  the  state,  but  differs  from  it  in  that  its  motive  is  rather 
the  commercial  advancement  of  the  state  than  its  mili- 
tary or  political  aggrandizement.  Colonization  has 
often  been  resorted  to,  also,  when  a  state  has  believed 
itself  to  be   ovcrpopulated,  and   has   aimed  directly  at 


INTRODUCTION  17 

improving  the  condition  of  its  citizens,  both  those  who 
go  and  those  who  are  left,  — ■  something  that  is  scarcely 
dreamed  of  under  conquest.  Several  classifications  of 
colonies  have  been  made.  The  most  satisfactory  is 
that  adopted  by  Professor  A.  G.  Keller,  which  makes  a 
twofold  division  into  farm  and  plantation  colonics.^ 
These  differ  from  each  other  so  much  in  their  essential 
characteristics  that  it  will  be  well  to  examine  them 
separately,  before  making  any  further  generalizations 
regarding  colonies  as  a  whole. 

This  classification  is  based  on  the  typical  form  of  the 
industrial  organization  in  the  colony.  As  colonies  are 
always  new  and  undeveloped  regions,  the  fundamental 
industry  is  always  of  an  extractive  nature,  almost  uni- 
versally agriculture  in  some  form,  though  it  may  be 
mining  or  fishing.  Practically  all  important  colonies 
in  the  history  of  the  movement,  however,  have  been 
agricultural,  so  that  the  above  division  serves  every  pur- 
pose. In  the  first  place,  it  must  be  noted  that  practi- 
cally all  colonizing  nations  have  been  situated  in  the 
north  temperate  zone,  and  primarily  in  Europe.  Out- 
side of  tliis  continent,  Phoenicia  and  China  are  the  sole 
important  representatives.  These,  with  Greece  and 
Rome,  made  up  the  colonizing  powers  of  the  ancient 
world.  As  far  as  modern  colonizing  nations  are  con- 
cerned, the  question  is  limited  to  the  countries  of 
Europe. 

A  farm  colony  springs  up  in  a  region  similar  to  that 
held  by  the  colonizing  state,  that  is  to  say,  in  the  tem- 
perate zone.  Colonies  of  this  class  have  appeared  both 
north  and  south  of  the  equator.  The  requirements  are 
that  the   conditions  of  soil   and  climate  be  such  as  to 

•  Keller,  .\.  G.,  Colonization,  Ch.  I. 


i8  IMMIGRATION 

make  the  products  of  the  colony  similar  to  those  of  the 
home  state,  and  to  render  acclimatization  either  unneces- 
sary or  very  easy. 

Under  these  conditions,  a  large  movement  of  popula- 
tion takes  place  from  the  home  state  to  the  colony,  and 
it  is  a  movement  of  families.  Men  hnd  it  possible  to 
take  their  wives  and  children  with  them,  and  a  normal 
population  is  established  in  the  new  land.  Agriculture 
may  be  taken  up  according  to  the  methods  with  which 
the  colonists  are  famiHar  in  the  old  country.  As  land  is 
abundant  and  cheap,  each  man  will  prefer,  and  will  find 
it  possible,  to  take  up  a  piece  of  land  of  his  own,  and  to 
cultivate  it  independently,  rather  than  to  hire  out  liis 
services  to  any  other  cultivator.  Consequently,  hired 
agricultural  labor  is  almost  impossible  to  secure,  and 
each  man  is  compelled  to  rely  on  the  labor  of  himself 
and  his  family  to  cultivate  his  land.  As  a  result,  the 
typical  agricultural  unit  becomes  the  small  holding,  oc- 
cupied and  tilled  by  a  single  family.  The  system  is 
further  established  by  the  fact  that  the  products  of 
such  a  region  are  well  adapted  to  this  form  of  culture. 
This  is  the  typical  "  farm "  organization  which  gives  its 
name  to  this  class  of  colony. 

Plantation  colonies,  on  the  other  hand,  arise  in  regions 
different  in  climate  from  the  home  state,  that  is,  in  tropi- 
cal or  subtropical  regions.  Here  conditions  of  soil  and 
chmate  are  such  that  the  natural  products  are  of  a  kind 
which  cannot  be  raised  under  home  conditions,  and  hence 
are  luxuries  rather  than  staples.  Acchmatization  is 
practically  impossible  for  men,  and  almost  wholly  so  for 
women,  so  that  normal  family  Hfe  is  precluded  for  the 
colonist.  Furthermore,  as  it  is  impossible  for  natives  of 
the  temperate  zone  to  engage  in  agricultural  labor  in  the 


INTRODUCTION  19 

tropics,  for  physiological  reasons,  all  work  of  that  kind 
must  be  performed  by  the  natives,  or  by  other  similar 
races  imported  for  the  purpose.  As  a  rule,  the  natives  do 
not  wish  to  work,  and  wages  are  no  sufficient  inducement. 
Hence  they  must  be  made  to  work,  and  slavery,  either 
openly  or  in  one  of  its  disguised  forms,  appears.  Since  a 
very  small  number  of  Europeans  will  suffice  to  direct  the 
activities  of  a  large  number  of  natives,  the  movement  of 
population  from  the  home  state  is  small,  and  we  ffiid 
agriculture  in  the  tropics  developing  along  the  hne  of  a 
large  unit,  producing  a  single  commodity,  and  operated 
by  compulsory  labor,  under  conditions  of  waste  and  ex- 
ploitation.    This  is  the  typical  "plantation." 

Thus  we  see  that  the  social  and  industrial  conditions 
are  diametrically  opposed  in  the  two  forms  of  colony. 
In  the  farm  colony  we  have  a  vigorous  population, 
similar  in  stock  to  that  of  the  home  state,  each  family 
tilling  its  own  piece  of  land,  and  largely  self-supporting. 
Under  such  conditions  large  famihes  are  an  economic 
advantage,  and  population  grows  rapidly.  In  the  planta- 
tion colony  the  colonists  are  few  and  mostly  males,  who 
superintend  the  cultivation  of  large  estates,  with  the 
purpose  of  making  as  much  money  as  possible  and  getting 
back  to  the  home  land  at  the  earhest  possible  moment. 
As  far  as  the  population  of  the  colony  is  affected,  it  is 
mainly  by  the  growth  of  a  body  of  half-breeds,  who  are 
always  a  troublesome  class.  Morals  are  loWj  and  life 
unhealthy  and  artificial.  In  the  political  interests  of 
the  colonies  similar  distinctions  exist.  Life  in  a  farm 
colony  tends  to  develop  enterprise,  independence,  and 
pohtical  and  social  equality.  A  feeling  of  patriotism 
toward  the  colony,  as  distinguished  from  the  home  state, 
inevitably  develops.     The  manifest  destiny  of  the  farm 


20  IMMIGRATION 

colony  is  to  become  an  independent  state,  either  with  a 
wholly  separate  government,  or  with  only  the  most 
tenuous  ties  binding  it  to  the  home  authority.  In  the 
plantation  colony  life  develops  along  an  aristocratic 
groove,  with  well-dehned  social  and  political  classes. 
There  is  no  love  on  the  part  of  the  colonist  for  the  colony 
as  such,  and  no  body  of  local  feehng  grows  up  among  the 
colonists.  This  development  is  furthered  by  the  cus- 
tomary action  of  the  central  government,  which  regards 
the  farm  colony  as  of  little  importance  because  of  the 
similarity  between  its  products  and  her  own,  but  devotes 
an  enormous  attention  to  the  plantation  colony  because 
of  the  apparent  importance  of  its  unique  products. 
Hence  the  farm  colony  is  left  free  to  develop  along 
natural  Unes,  while  the  plantation  colony  is  subjected 
to  all  sorts  of  artificial  restrictions  and  limitations  which 
hamper  its  growth.  As  a  result  of  all  these  factors,  the 
plantation  colony  seldom  achieves  its  independence, 
but  remains  subject  to  the  home  state  indefinitely. 
Examples  of  farm  colonies  are  the  Thirteen  Colonies, 
Canada,  New  Zealand,  etc. ;  of  plantation  colonies, 
Java,  Jamaica,  Brazil  under  the  Portuguese,  etc.  As 
will  be  seen,  the  farm  colony  has  a  peculiarly  intimate 
relation  with  immigration  movements. 

This  preliminary  survey  of  the  earlier  forms  of  migra- 
tion prepares  the  way  for  a  clear  understanding  of  the 
characteristic  features  of  the  fourth  form.  This  is  im- 
migration, which  in  many  respects  differs  from  any 
other  population  movement.  These  distinctions  merit 
emphasis. 

In  the  first  place,  both  of  the  two  states  concerned  in 
an  immigration  movement  are  well  established,  and  on 
approximately   the  same  stage  of  civiHzation.     Immi- 


INTRODUCTION  21 

gration  can  take  place  only  over  what  Professor  Sumner 
calls  a  single  culture-area.  Secondly,  immigration  is  a 
distinctly  individual  undertaking.  States  may  direct, 
control,  regulate,  or  encourage  immigration,  but  the 
motives  which  lead  men  into  this  form  of  movement 
are  strictly  individual  ones,  and  the  causes  which  arouse 
these  motives  are  conditions  which  react  upon  the  in- 
di\'idual  alone.  The  end  sought  is  neither  the  advantage 
of  the  country  of  origin,  nor  of  the  country  of  destination, 
but  the  improvement  of  the  condition  of  the  individual. 
The  two  countries  concerned  in  an  immigration  move- 
ment resemble  each  other  not  only  in  the  stage  of  cul- 
ture but  in  chmatic  conditions  and  circumstances  of 
life.  There  has  never  been  any  immigration  between  the 
temperate  zones  and  the  tropics,  in  either  direction,  nor 
have  the  polar  regions  ever  figured.  In  fact,  practically 
all  immigration,  historically  speaking,  has  been  between 
different  coimtries  in  the  temperate  zone.  But  while 
there  are  these  resemblances  between  the  countries  con- 
cerned, there  must  also  always  be  some  differences,  other- 
wise there  would  be  no  motive  for  movement.  The 
first  and  primary  difference  between  the  two  countries 
is  that  the  one  which  receives  the  stream  of  immigration 
is  newer,  and  therefore  much  less  thickly  settled,  than  the 
other.  Other  things  being  equal,  the  chances  for  a  com- 
fortable living  are  greater  in  a  country  where  the  ratio 
between  men  and  land  is  still  low.  This  ratio  between 
men  and  land  is  of  extreme  importance,  and  ought  never 
to  be  neglected  in  the  discussion  of  any  sociological  or 
economic  problem.^  It  is  especially  vital  as  regards 
migrations,  which  are  so  directly  connected  with  the 
shifting  of  populations. 

1  Sumner,  W.  G.,  War  and  Other  Essays,  "Sociology." 


22  IMMIGRATION 

Other  differences  which  may  be  looked  for  between  the 
two  countries  concerned  in  an  immigration  movement 
are  the  following :  the  country  of  destination  is  more 
democratic  than  the  other,  and  its  people  enjoy  greater 
social  and  poUtical  equaUty ;  there  is  more  of  individual 
freedom  of  conduct,  and  fewer  traditional  or  legal  re- 
straints ;  military  burdens  are  hghter,  and  there  is 
greater  latitude  for  rehgious  belief  and  practice.  On  the 
other  hand,  hfe  in  the  new  country  is  likely  to  be  more 
arduous,  industry  more  insistent,  the  demands  for 
personal  ability  more  urgent.  These  features  at  once 
suggest  those  typical  of  the  farm  colony,  and  in  point  of 
fact  we  find  that  practically  all  countries  which  receive 
large  streams  of  immigrants  are  developed  farm  colonies. 
These  are,  at  the  present  time,  the  United  States,  Canada, 
Argentina,  Australia,  South  Africa,  and  to  a  certain  ex- 
tent parts  of  Asiatic  Russia. 

The  requirements,  then,  for  an  immigration  move- 
ment are  the  following :  two  well-developed  countries, 
one  old  and  densely  populated,  the  other  new  and  thinly 
settled,  the  two  on  friendly,  or  at  least  peaceable,  terms 
with  each  other.  For  immigration,  even  more  than 
colonization,  is  a  phenomenon  of  peace.  On  the  part  of 
the  people  who  are  to  take  part  in  the  movement  a  high 
degree  of  civilization  is  demanded.  They  must  be 
trained  to  act  on  individual  initiative,  and  must  have 
sufficient  personal  enterprise  to  undertake  a  weighty 
venture  without  an  official  or  state  backing.  They  must 
have  sufficient  intelligence  to  know  about  the  objective 
point,  and  sufficient  accumulated  capital  to  enable 
them  to  get  there.  There  must  be  adequate,  easy,  and 
inexpensive  means  of  transportation  between  the  two 
countries,  in  order  to  enable  any  large  number  of  people 


INTRODUCTION  23 

to  make  the  journey.  The  immigrant  is  not  in  any 
sense  an  adventurer  or  explorer.  On  the  part  of  the 
nations  concerned  there  must  be  a  wilhngness  to  allow 
individuals  to  come  and  go  at  their  own  pleasure,  with- 
out any  extreme  restrictions  or  regulations.  There  must 
be  nothing  of  the  old  idea  of  the  feudal  bond  between  the 
person  and  the  land. 

From  the  above  it  appears  that  immigration  must  be 
distinctly  a  modern  movement.  Scarcely  one  of  the 
foregoing  requirements  —  not  to  speak  of  the  conjunc- 
tion of  all  of  them  —  is  more  than  three  or  four  centuries 
old.  Consequently  immigration,  in  the  sense  in  which 
we  have  defined  it,  has  existed  only  for  a  comparatively 
short  time,  practically  since  the  Discoveries  Period. 
Moreover,  it  seems  Ukely  to  be  a  purely  temporary  phe- 
nomenon. With  the  disappearance  of  the  conditions 
which  differentiate  the  countries  which  are  now  receiving 
immigrants  from  the  older  European  countries,  it  seems 
probable  that  immigration  will  cease,  for  as  far  as  the 
human  eye  can  see,  there  will  be  no  new  lands  to  be 
opened  up  for  the  purpose. 

In  addition  to  these  four  chief  forms  of  migration, 
there  are  certain  other  less  important  forms  of  which 
mention  should  be  made  to  avoid  any  confusion.  First 
among  these  stands  what  may  be  called  forced  migra- 
tion. This  occurs  when  bodies  of  people,  for  any  reason, 
without  any  choice  of  their  own,  are  compelled  to  leave 
a  certain  region,  and  go  elsewhere,  either  with  or  without 
a  specific  destination.  A  familiar  example  is  that  pre- 
sented by  the  Jews,  who  were  expelled  from  England  in 
1290,  from  France  in  1395,  and  from  Spain  and  Portu- 
gal in  1492  and  1495.  The  Moors  were  also  expelled 
from    Spain   in    1609,    on   penalty   of   death.     Another 


24  IMMIGRATION 

familiar  example  is  that  of  the  Huguenots,  who  were 
expelled  from  France  at  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury. Such  movements  as  these  have  usually  resulted 
in  a  nation's  losing  the  most  valuable  elements  of  its 
population.     The  cause  has  usually  been  religious. 

A  different  type  of  forced  migration  has  been  exempli- 
fied in  the  slave  trade.  In  this  case  the  migrants  are 
compelled  by  actual  force  to  go  from  one  region  to  another 
specified  one.  The  movement  of  the  Africans  to  America 
is  a  familiar  example.  The  motive  is  the  economic  one 
of  securing  a  supply  of  labor  at  a  minimum  expense. 
Still  another  type  is  furnished  by  the  penal  colonies, 
such  as  have  been  estabhshed  in  Australia  and  elsewhere. 
All  these  forms  of  forced  migration  are  evidently  different 
in  principle  and  in  most  of  their  characteristics  from  the 
great  types  of  migration  which  have  been  mentioned. 
Their  study  is  a  subject  by  itself. 

Still  another  form  of  migration  is  what  is  known  as 
the  internal  or  intra-state  migration.  This  is  mani- 
festly going  on  all  the  time  in  every  civilized  country. 
It  is  only  when  it  involves  large  masses  of  people,  moving 
in  certain  well-defined  directions,  with  a  community  of 
motives  and  purposes,  that  it  deserves  to  be  classed  with 
the  great  population  movements.  Then  it  may  become 
of  great  interest  and  significance,  as  in  the  case  of  the 
great  westward  movement  of  the  people  of  the  United 
States.  It  is  evidently  a  wholly  chfferent  matter  from 
the  other  forms  which  have  been  emphasized. 

There  is,  of  course,  also  a  continual  passage  of  individ- 
uals between  all  the  nations  of  the  earth,  in  every 
direction.  A  permanent  change  of  residence  is  frequently 
involved.  These  movements,  obviously,  may  not  cor- 
respond to  any  of  the  principles  which  have  been  laid 


INTRODUCTION  25 

down  for  any  specific  form  of  migration,  and,  if  they  were 
sufiiciently  numerous,  would  constitute  exceptions  to 
all  that  has  been  said.  In  point  of  fact,  they  are  isolated, 
scattered,  and  occasional.  They  do  not  rank  in  any  sense 
as  movements  of  peoples,  nor  do  they  complicate  the 
discussion  of  the  great  sociological  phenomena  in  which 
we  are  interested. 


CHAPTER  II 

THE  UNITED   STATES.      COLONIAL  PERIOD 

In  taking  up  the  special  study  of  immigration,  it  is 
necessary  to  bear  in  mind  at  the  outset  that  the  word  is 
to  be  used  in  a  Kmited  and  semitechnical  sense.  It  is 
not  always  so  used  in  common  speech  nor  even  in  scien- 
tific writings,  and  much  confusion  and  inaccuracy  not 
infrequently  result.  Let  us  state  once  more  exactly 
what  is  meant  by  immigration.  Immigration  is  a  move- 
ment of  people,  individually  or  in  families,  acting  on 
their  own  personal  initiative  and  responsibility,  without 
official  support  or  compulsion,  passing  from  one  well- 
developed  country  (usually  old  and  tliickly  settled)  to 
another  well-developed  ^  country  (usually  new  and 
sparsely  populated)  with  the  intention  of  residing  there 
permanently.  The  same  movement  may  equally  well 
be  referred  to  as  emigration.  It  is  obviously  only  a  ques- 
tion of  the  point  of  view.  The  two  words  may  be  used 
interchangeably  without  danger  of  confusion,  if  the  point 
of  view  is  regarded.  There  is  only  one  movement,  and 
one  set  of  people,  emigrating  from  one  country  and  immi- 
grating to  another.^ 

*  Well  developed,  of  course,  in  the  sense  of  culture,  not  in  the  exploitation  of 
natural  resources. 

2  There  has  not  only  been  much  looseness  and  ambiRuity  in  the  use  of  the 
word  "immigration,"  but  also  an  apparent  feeling  that  immigration  and  emigra- 
tion are  two  different  things,  as  is  witnessed  by  the  title  of  one  of  the  standard 
works  on  the  subject.  They  are,  in  fact,  only  two  different  ways  of  looking  at 
the  same  thing.  As  so  often  hapjx'ns  in  the  social  sciences,  the  student  of  immi- 
gration is  under  the  necessity  of  taking  a  word  from  the  common  language,  and 

26 


THE   UNITED    STATES.     COLONIAL  PERIOD     27 

As  observed  in  the  foregoing  chapter,  immigration  is  a 
movement  which  could  not  have  originated  before  the 
Discoveries  Period,  and  did  not,  in  fact,  become  a  matter 
of  much  importance  until  a  century  or  so  later.  The 
countries  which  are  now  the  objective  points  of  large 
streams  of  immigration  are,  without  exception,  countries 
which  have  been  opened  up  since  that  epoch.  An  ex- 
haustive study  of  immigration  should  take  up  each  of 
these  countries  in  turn,  and  examine  conditions  in  Canada, 
Argentina,  South  Africa,  Australasia,  and  the  United 
States.  The  plan  of  the  present  volume  does  not  include 
so  exhaustive  a  treatment ;  it  is  intended  primarily  for 
American  readers.  The  specific  study  of  immigration  will 
be  limited  to  the  United  States.  This  is  the  more  jus- 
tifiable, inasmuch  as  the  United  States  is,  beyond  com- 
parison, the  foremost  country  in  immigration  movements, 
both  in  point  of  numbers  and  of  world  interest.  All 
the  fundamental  principles  of  immigration  are  exempH- 
fied  here  more  fully  than  in  any  other  country.  To 
the  citizen  of  the  United  States  it  is  a  matter  of  the 
greatest  importance  and  interest,  for  it  has  to  do  with 
a  unique  subject  —  the  make-up  of  the  American  people 
itself. 

The  history  of  immigration  into  the  United  States  may 
for  convenience  be  divided  into  five  periods.  The  first 
of  these  includes  the  time  between  the  first  settlement  of 
the  North  American  colonies  and  the  year  1783.  This 
date  is  chosen  for  the  end  of  this  first  period  because, 
as  Professor  Mayo-Smith  has  expressed  it,  "At  that 
time  the  state  was  estabhshed,  and  any  further  additions 
to  the  population  had  httle  influence  in  changing  its  form 

giving  it  a  more  restricted  and  inflexible  meaning  than  either  everyday  usage 
or  the  etymology  of  the  word  would  warrant. 


28  IMMIGRATION 

or  the  language  and  customs  of  the  people."  ^  The  sec- 
ond period,  from  1783  to  1820,  marks  the  beginning  of 
national  life.  It  was  a  period  of  small  immigration,  and 
closes  with  the  year  in  which  federal  statistics  were  iirst 
collected  in  regard  to  the  stream  of  immigration.  The 
third  period  begins  in  1820  and  ends  roughly  about  i860. 
This  period  is  marked  by  the  beginning  and  culmination 
of  the  first  great  rise  in  the  immigration  stream,  by  a 
growing  opposition  to  the  immigrant,  and  by  state  con- 
trol of  the  admission  of  aliens.  The  period  from  i860  to 
1882  begins  with  the  Civil  War  agitation,  witnesses  the 
disappearance  of  state  control,  and  closes  with  the  year 
in  which  the  first  immigration  law  was  passed  by  the 
federal  government.  The  fifth,  or  modern,  period  is 
from  1882  to  the  present.  Other  features  which  dis- 
tinguish and  separate  these  periods  will  manifest  them- 
selves as  the  periods  are  examined  more  closely. 

It  is  customary  with  some  writers,  as,  for  instance, 
Professor  Mayo-Smith  in  the  reference  above  quoted, 
to  include  all  movements  of  people  into  the  North 
American  colonies,  previous  to  the  Revolution,  under  the 
head  of  colonization,  and  to  call  everything  after  the 
beginning  of  national  fife  immigration.  The  second  part 
of  this  classification  accords  with  the  definitions  given 
above,  but  the  first  part  does  not.  For  it  will  be  remem- 
bered that  colonization  refers  to  movements  of  people 
from  a  central  state  to  its  dependencies,  while  immigra- 
tion is  a  movement  from  the  territory  of  one  nation  to 
that  of  another.  The  fact  that  the  receiving  region  is 
itself  a  colony  does  not  alter  the  case.  Hence,  in  so  far 
as  the  people  who  came  to  the  North  American  colonies 
in  the  early  days  came  from  a  state  to  which  the  region 

1  Mayo-Smith,  R.,  Emigration  and  Immigration,  p.  36. 


THE   UNITED   STATES.     COLONIAL   PERIOD     29 

where  they  were  going  was  subject,  they  were  true 
colonists.  They  were  simply  going  from  one  part  of  a 
national  territory  to  another.  But  all  who  came  from 
any  European  state  to  a  dependency  of  another  state  — 
and  there  were  a  goodly  number  of  them  —  were  immi- 
grants. Thus,  even  in  colonial  days,  there  were  both 
colonization  and  immigration. 

In  establishing  this  distinction  it  must  be  noted  that 
while  the  colonies  were  undeveloped  as  regards  their 
natural  resources,  they  were  highly  developed  in  respect 
to  their  stage  of  civilization  and  their  advancement  in  the 
arts.  In  this  respect  they  were  the  peers  of  the  most 
cultivated  European  states  of  the  period.  The  factors 
which  gave  a  primitive  aspect  to  life  in  the  colonies  were 
due  to  the  newness  of  the  settlement  and  the  sparseness 
of  the  population.  These  were,  in  turn,  just  the  factors 
which  made  them  desirable  to  immigrants  and  colonists 
ahke. 

The  truth  of  this  position  is  further  established  by  the 
fact  that  this  distinction  was  clearly  recognized  by  the 
early  settlers  themselves.  A  very  different  attitude  was 
manifested  in  the  colonics  toward  persons  who  came  from 
the  home  state  than  toward  those  from  any  other  country. 
The  former  were  generally  welcomed ;  the  latter  were 
regarded  with  suspicion,  if  not  actual  hostility.  The 
history  of  immigration  to  the  North  American  continent 
reaches  far  back  toward  the  days  of  the  earliest  settle- 
ment, and  many  of  the  characteristic  problems  and  argu- 
ments connected  with  the  immigration  situation  were 
familiar  long  before  the  Revolution.  A  familiarity  with 
these  early  aspects  of  the  question  furnishes  many  en- 
lightening comparisons  and  parallels,  and  is  of  great 
value  in  correctly  estimating  the  modern  situation. 


30  IMMIGRATION 

The  peopling  of  the  North  American  continent  by- 
persons  of  north  European  stock  began  with  the  forma- 
tion by  James  I  of  England  of  two  companies  of  settle- 
ment in  the  year  1606.  These  were  known  as  the 
London  Company  and  the  Plymouth  Company.  To 
the  former  was  granted  the  territory  on  the  North 
American  coast  between  34  and  38  degrees  north  lat- 
itude, though  these  boundaries  were  somewhat  extended 
in  1609.  To  the  latter  was  assigned  the  region  from  41 
to  45  degrees.  This  left  a  section  of  unassigned  terri- 
tory between,  extending  from  the  Rappahannock  to  the 
Hudson  rivers.  This  was  open  to  settlement  by  either 
company,  with  the  stipulation  that  neither  was  to  plant 
a  settlement  within  one  hundred  miles  of  a  previous  settle- 
ment of  the  other.  Neither  of  these  companies,  however, 
ever  made  any  very  extensive  achievements  in  coloniza- 
tion, and  both  gave  up  their  charters  in  the  course  of  a 
few  years,  the  London  Company  in  1624  and  the  other 
in  1635. 

Before  the  charters  were  surrendered,  however,  settle- 
ments had  been  started  in  both  territories.  In  Virginia, 
the  province  of  the  London  Company,  the  first  ship- 
load of  adventurers  from  London  arrived  in  the  year  1607. 
But  twelve  years  of  hard  and  painful  struggle  were  re- 
quired to  establish  this  settlement  as  a  permanent  and 
self-maintaining  colony.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that 
at  this  time,  and  in  this  place,  one  of  the  greatest  of  our 
national  racial  problems  had  its  commencement,  through 
the  introduction  of  a  number  of  African  slaves  from  a 
Dutch  vessel  in  1619.  The  settlers  in  this  region  were, 
in  part,  adventurers,  younger  sons  of  noble  families,  and 
other  members  of  the  aristocracy  who  found  it  advisable 
to  leave  England,  and  in  part  rather  unworthy  repre- 


THE   UNITED   STATES.     COLONIAL   PERIOD     31 

sentatives  of  the  lower  classes.  A  combination  of  polit- 
ical, social,  and  economic  causes  was  responsible  for 
their  coming. 

The  settlers  of  the  northern  colony,  in  the  territory 
of  the  Plymouth  Company,  were  of  a  different  class 
of  the  population.  Their  motives  for  coming  were  also 
different,  being  primarily  of  a  religious  character. 
These  colonists  were  separatists  from  the  Church  of 
England,  who  fled  first  to  Holland,  and  from  there  came 
to  America  in  1620,  landing  in  what  is  now  Plymouth, 
Massachusetts.  In  this  colony,  also,  the  process  of 
settlement  was  slow,  and  there  were  very  few  arrivals 
for  ten  years.  In  1630,  however,  about  one  thousand 
colonists,  Puritans  but  not  separatists,  came  over,  and 
settled  in  Massachusetts  Bay.  This  was  the  real  begin- 
ning of  the  history  of  the  Massachusetts  colony,  which 
in  time  absorbed  also  the  Plymouth  colony.  Once 
started,  population  in  this  colony  advanced  very  rapidly, 
and  overflowed  into  the  neighboring  regions,  forming  the 
colonies  of  Rhode  Island,  New  Hampshire,  and  the  river 
towns  of  Connecticut. 

In  the  meantime  the  Dutch  were  taking  possession  of 
the  unassigned  central  region.  New  Netherland  was 
organized  under  the  Dutch  West  India  Company  in  1621, 
and  the  city  at  the  mouth  of  the  Hudson  was  named 
New  Amsterdam.  Sweden,  too,  was  trying  to  get  a  foot- 
hold in  the  new  country  and  sent  a  party  of  colonists 
to  Delaware  Bay  in  1638.  This  was  not  successful, 
however,  and  surrendered  to  the  Dutch  in  1655,  so  that 
Sweden  never  achieved  prominence  as  a  colonizing  power 
in  the  New  World.  With  the  growth  of  the  English  col- 
onies in  the  north  and  south,  this  central  territory  in  the 
hands  of  a  foreign  power  came  to  be  recognized  as  a 


32  IMMIGRATION 

source  of  annoyance  and  danger,  and  on  the  occasion  of  a 
war  with  Holland,  England  sent  over  a  fleet  and  took 
possession  of  the  whole  intervening  region,  forming  the 
colonies  of  New  York  and  New  Jersey.  In  1681  the  ter- 
ritory of  Pennsylvania  was  granted  for  settlement  to 
William  Penn,  and  thus  the  whole  Atlantic  coast  from 
Canada  to  Florida  became  a  field  of  colonization,  sub- 
ject to  the  English  authority. 

The  study  of  the  formation  of  the  American  people 
as  a  separate  nation  is  of  peculiar  interest,  because  it 
has  taken  place  within  a  recent  historical  period,  and  we 
can  study  the  original  elements  from  the  time  when  they 
first  settled  in  the  country.  This  is  not  true  of  any  of 
the  nations  of  Europe. 

The  foundation  of  the  new  people  consisted  of  col- 
onists from  England.  They  were  the  original  settlers, 
and  during  the  entire  colonial  period  they  continued  to 
contribute  to  the  growing  population.  In  addition  to 
these  there  was  the  Dutch  element,  which  became  well 
estabhshed  when  New  York  was  a  Dutch  colony.  Aside 
from  the  colonists,  there  was  a  large  and  important  con- 
tribution from  other  European  nations,  people  from  prac- 
tically every  country  on  the  continent.  These  were  the 
true  immigrants.  The  colonies  which  were  most  affected 
by  arrivals  of  this  sort  were  the  central  ones,  particularly 
New  York  and  Pennsylvania,  and  above  all  the  latter. 
This  was  due  to  their  location,  the  attitude  of  their 
proprietors,  and  the  feeHng  and  conduct  of  the  original 
settlers.  The  attitude  of  WiUiam  Penn  was  decidedly 
liberal,  and  Pennsylvania  advanced  in  population  accord- 
ingly. Penn  advertised  his  colony  widely,  and  when  he 
came  over  in  1682  there  were  already  six  thousand 
Swedish,    Dutch,    and    EngHsh   settlers    there.     Others 


THE    UNITED    STATES.     COLONIAL   PERIOD     ^^ 

came  rapidly,  prominent  among  them  English  Quakers, 
Scottish  and  Irish  Presbyterians,  German  Mennonites, 
and  French  Huguenots.  These  religious  designations 
are  significant  of  the  preponderance  of  the  religious  ele- 
ment in  the  immigration  of  the  day. 

Throughout  the  colonial  period  this  class  of  causes  was 
an  underlying  factor  in  most  of  the  important  migrations 
to  America,  both  colonization  and  immigration.  The 
Protestant  Reformation,  and  the  intellectual  and  social 
movements  which  went  with  it,  had  a  profound  effect 
upon  the  contentment  of  large  masses  of  the  people  of 
Europe,  and  made  that  continent  a  very  undesirable 
place  of  residence  for  many  of  them.  That  political 
causes  should  have  been  closely  combined  with  the  reli- 
gious ones  was  inevitable,  on  account  of  the  intimate  rela- 
tion between  religion  and  government,  and  the  practice 
of  using  political  power  to  secure  religious  ends,  and  vice 
versa.  These  two  classes  of  causes  were  the  prevaiUng 
and  characteristic  ones  during  this  period. 

The  reHgious  tolerance  and  freedom  which  char- 
acterized Pennsylvania  was  therefore  one  of  the  chief 
factors  which  drew  immigrants  of  every  nationality  to  it, 
and  it  quickly  became  the  most  cosmopolitan  of  all  the 
colonies.  Penn's  agents  were  particularly  active  in 
Germany,  with  the  result  that  in  twenty  years  the 
Germans  numbered  nearly  one  half  the  population  of  the 
colony. 

With  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century  two  cur- 
rents of  immigration  rapidly  outdistanced  all  others  in 
numbers,  importance,  and  the  amount  of  attention  which 
they  attracted.  These  were  the  Palatines  and  the  Scotch- 
Irish.  Throughout  the  rest  of  the  colonial  period  they 
held  the  center  of  the  stage  in  the  immigration  situation. 


34  IMMIGRATION 

The  Palatines  were  so  called  because  their  original 
home  was  in  what  was  known  as  the  Palatinate.  This 
was  a  section  of  Germany  lying  on  both  sides  of  the 
Rhine  from  Cologne  to  Mannheim.  It  was  divided  into 
two  parts,  the  upper  and  the  lower,  from  the  latter  of 
which  most  of  the  immigration  came.  The  position  of 
this  country  brought  it  into  close  relations  with  the  spirit 
of  the  Reformation,  and  large  bodies  of  the  population 
became  Protestant,  both  Reformed  and  Lutheran.  The 
rulers  of  the  Palatinate,  the  Electors  Palatine,  swung 
back  and  forth  between  Lutheranism,  Calvinism,  and 
Roman  Catholicism,  and  since  each  successive  ruler 
wished  his  subjects  to  conform  to  his  rehgious  views,  the 
miserable  people  suffered  accordingly.  Both  of  the  two 
great  wars  between  1684  and  17 13,  the  War  of  the  Grand 
AlHance  and  the  War  of  the  Spanish  Succession,  had 
borne  heavily  on  the  Palatinate,  which  had  long  been  the 
object  of  Louis  XIV's  most  covetous  desire.  The  sec- 
ond ruthless  devastation  which  the  country  experienced 
during  the  latter  of  these  wars  reduced  the  people  to  the 
lowest  pitch  of  misery  and  desperation.  Meanwhile  their 
ruler,  John  William,  was  trying  to  force  the  whole  of  the 
people  back  into  Catholicism.  ''To  the  people  already 
suffering  from  the  intolerable  hardships  which  the  cruel- 
est  of  wars  had  thrust  upon  them,  this  persecuting  spirit 
of  their  prince  came  as  the  last  impulse  to  break  off  their 
attachment  to  the  fatherland  and  send  them  to  make 
new  homes  in  distant  America."  Thus  began  the  great 
exodus,  from  a  combination  of  political  and  religious 
causes,  in  entire  harmony  with  the  spirit  of  the  age. 

The  Elector  Palatine  resisted  the  emigration,  and 
adopted  various  measures  to  check  it,  among  them  an 
edict  threatening  death  to  all  who  should  attempt  to 


THE   UNITED   STATES.     COLONIAL   PERIOD     35 

emigrate.  As  usual,  such  efforts  were  powerless  to 
check  a  natural  movement.  The  first  detachment  to 
leave  was  apparently  a  small  band  which,  after  many- 
wanderings,  settled  in  New  Jersey  in  1707.  In  1708 
a  small  company  came  to  London  and  asked  to  be  sent 
to  America.  They  were  sent  to  New  York  at  public 
expense,  and  were  furnished  with  farm  implements ; 
nevertheless,  they  fell  into  want  and  had  to  be  aided  by 
the  colonial  council.  The  next  year  about  thirteen 
thousand  Palatines  arrived  in  London  by  way  of  Rotter- 
dam. They  were,  for  the  most  part,  absolutely  penni- 
less, and  in  rags.  England  responded  nobly  to  the 
burden  thus  cast  upon  her.  Queen  Anne  allowed  nine- 
pence  per  day  each  for  their  subsistence,  and  they  were 
housed  in  army  tents  set  up  in  vacant  lots,  and  in  barns 
and  warehouses.  This  piece  of  benevolence  is  said  to 
have  cost  England,  in  public  and  private  expenditures, 
the  sum  of  £135,000.  Some  of  these  refugees  were  sent 
to  Ireland,  but  large  numbers  of  them  eventually  found 
their  way  to  America.  A  large  shipment  arrived  in  the 
Carolinas  in  1709. 

The  largest  detachment,  however,  was  a  body  of 
three  thousand  who  arrived  in  New  York,  from  England, 
in  the  early  summer  of  17 10.  This  is  said  to  have  been 
the  largest  body  of  immigrants  to  have  arrived  in  this 
country  at  one  time  during  the  colonial  period.  They 
have  been  characterized  as  perhaps  the  most  miserable 
and  most  hopeful  set  of  people  ever  set  down  on  our 
shores.  In  spite  of  their  poverty,  they  manifested  a 
stern  and  determined  spirit  in  their  fight  for  their  faith 
and  home.  To  the  shame  of  the  New  York  colonists, 
it  is  recorded  that  they  were  welcomed  with  privation, 
distress,  fraud,  and  cruel  disappointment.     They  were 


36  IMMIGRATION 

cheated  and  oppressed  by  the  heartless  and  rapacious 
settlers,  to  whom  their  helplessness  made  them  easy  vic- 
tims. It  was  by  such  practices  as  these  that  New  York 
diverted  many  streams  of  immigration  from  her  terri- 
tory to  that  of  her  neighbors,  particularly  Pennsylvania.^ 

The  second  great  stream  of  immigration  during  the 
colonial  period  was  composed  of  the  Scotch-Irish,  who 
were  for  a  long  time  called  merely  "Irish."  Neither 
name  denominates  them  accurately,  as,  in  the  words  of 
Professor  Commons,  they  "are  very  little  Scotch  and 
much  less  Irish."  -  They  are  in  fact  the  most  composite 
of  all  the  people  of  the  British  Isles,  being  a  mixture  of 
the  primitive  Scot  and  Pict,  the  primitive  Briton  and 
Irish,  and  a  larger  admixture  of  Norwegian,  Dane, 
Saxon,  and  Angle.  They  were  called  Scots  because 
they  lived  originally  in  Scotia,  and  Irish  because  they 
moved  to  Ireland. 

James  the  First  resolved  to  make  Catholic  Ireland  a 
Protestant  country,  and  with  this  in  view  dispossessed 
the  native  chiefs  in  Ulster,  giving  their  lands  to  Scottish 
and  English  lords  on  condition  that  they  settle  the 
territory  with  tenants  from  Scotland  and  England. 
Thus  about  1610  many  people  from  Scotia  moved  to 
Ulster,  and  from  that  time  on  were  called  Irish,  though 
there  was  only  a  slight  trace  of  Irish  blood  in  their  veins. 
It  was  nearly  a  century  later  that  conditions  arose  which 
began  to  predispose  them  to  emigration  in  large  numbers. 
In  1698,  on  the  complaint,  from  English  manufacturers, 
of  Irish  competition,  the  Irish  Parliament,  a  tool  of  the 

1  Cobb,  S.  H.,  The  Slory  of  the  Palatines.  Cf.,  also,  Faust,  A.  B.,  The  Gerntaf- 
Element  in  the  United  States,  Chs.  II,  III,  IV ;  Billinger,  Lucy  F.,  The  Germans 
in  Colonial  Times,  pp.  12-ig;  Proper,  E.  E.,  Colonial  Immigration  Laws,  Colum- 
bia College  Studies,  Vol.  12,  No.  2,  pp.  40-42. 

'  Commons,  J.  R.,  Races  and  Itnmigrants  in  America,  p.  32. 


THE   UNITED    STATES.     COLONIAL   PERIOD     37 

British  crown,  passed  an  act  totally  forbidding  the  expor- 
tation of  Irish  woolens,  and  another  act  forbidding  the 
exportation  of  Irish  wool  to  any  country  save  England. 
The  hnen  industry  was  also  discriminated  against. 
These  acts  nearly  destroyed  the  industry  of  Ulster,  and 
aroused  great  discontent.  Next  the  people  were  com- 
pelled to  take  the  communion  of  the  established  church 
in  order  to  hold  office,  which  practically  deprived  them 
of  self-government,  as  they  were  unwilling  to  renounce 
their  native  Presbyterianism  for  political  ends.  Soon 
after,  their  hundred-year  leases  began  to  run  out,  and 
when  the  land  was  auctioned  off  the  low-living  Irish 
could  offer  higher  rents  than  they,  and  consequently 
they  lost  much  of  their  land.  The  ensuing  large  emi- 
gration was  thus  the  result  of  dissatisfaction  due  to  an 
interesting  combination  of  economic,  political,  and 
reHgious  causes. 

It  is  said  that  in  1718  forty- two  hundred  of  the  Scotch- 
Irish  left  for  America,  and  that  after  the  famine  of  1 740 
there  were  twelve  thousand  who  departed  annually. 
In  the  half  century  preceding  the  American  Revolu- 
tion, one  hundred  fifty  thousand  or  more  came  to 
America.  They  were  by  far  the  largest  contribution 
of  any  foreign  race  to  the  people  of  America  during  the 
eighteenth  century,  and  constituted  a  strong  element 
in  the  army  at  the  time  of  the  Revolution. 

At  the  time  of  the  arrival  of  the  Scotch-Irish  in  Amer- 
ica, the  lands  along  the  Atlantic  coast  were  already 
well  occupied,  and  they  were  compelled  to  move  on  into 
the  interior.  The  traditional  religious  exclusiveness 
of  Massachusetts  and  the  well-settled  character  of  the 
country  prevented  them  from  settling  in  the  eastern 
portions    of    that    colony.     Consequently    they    chose 


38  IMMIGRATION 

as  their  destination  New  Hampshire,  Vermont,  western 
Massachusetts,  and  Maine,  and  most  of  all  Pennsyl- 
vania and  the  foothill  regions  of  Virginia  and  the  CaroH- 
nas.  They  were  by  nature  typical  pioneers,  and  grad- 
ually pushed  their  way  into  western  Pennsylvania, 
Ohio,  Kentucky,  and  Tennessee.  They  were  the  one 
race  sufficiently  unified,  endowed  with  the  spirit  of 
liberty,  and  scattered  throughout  the  colonies,  to  serve 
as  the  amalgamating  force  binding  all  the  other  races 
into  one  —  the  American  type.^ 

During  the  whole  of  the  eighteenth  century,  up  to  the 
time  of  the  Revolution,  representatives  of  these  two  races 
continued  to  arrive  in  increasing  numbers.  The  Pala- 
tines, though  less  numerous  than  the  Scotch-Irish,  seem 
to  have  attracted  more  attention.  The  general  atti- 
tude of  the  colonists  toward  these  immigrants  was  one 
of  welcome,  or  at  the  least  of  toleration.  This  was 
natural  under  the  conditions  of  the  time.  It  must 
ever  be  borne  in  mind  that  the  distinguishing  feature  of 
the  situation  in  this  country  during  the  colonial  period 
was  a  superabundance  of  fertile  soil,  rich  in  a  variety  of 
natural  resources,  and  a  scarcity  of  men.  That  is,  the 
ratio  between  men  and  land  was  low.  Hence  there 
was  a  great  demand  for  settlers,  and  newcomers  were 
believed  to  be,  and  were,  an  asset  to  the  community. 
A  certain  degree  of  rivalry  and  jealousy  between  the 
colonies,  leading  them  to  covet  a  rapid  increase  in 
population,  contributed  to  this  sentiment. 

At  the  same  time,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  there 
was  a  decided  preference  for  colonists  over  immigrants. 

1  Cf.,  especially,  Commons,  op.  cit.,  pp.  31-38.  Also  Hanna,  Charles  A.,  The 
Scotch-Irish,  esp.  Vol.  II,  pp.  172-180;  Green,  S.  S.,  The  Scotch-Irish  in  America; 
MacLean,  J.  P.,  Settlements  of  Scotch  Highlanders  in  America,  pp.  40-61. 


THE    UNITED   STATES.     COLONIAL   PERIOD     39 

This  was  partly  due  to  a  natural  race  prejudice,  but  it 
was  augmented  by  the  character  of  the  immigrants  at 
that  time.  Considering  the  nature  of  the  conditions 
which  led  to  emigration  from  both  Ireland  and  Germany, 
it  is  not  surprising  that  a  majority  of  the  newcomers 
were  characterized  by  extreme  destitution.  As  might 
also  be  expected  from  the  frightful  shipping  conditions 
which  then  existed,  many  of  them  arrived  in  wretched 
condition  physically.  The  voyage  was  long,  the  ships 
were  small,  poorly  ventilated,  shockingly  overcrowded, 
and  totally  unprovided  with  adequate  provisions  for 
sanitation,  cleanliness,  and  culinary  facilities.  It  seems 
to  have  been  the  expected  thing  that  a  large  part  of  every 
shipload  of  immigrants,  particularly  of  the  Palatines, 
should  arrive  in  a  prostrated  condition. 

There  is  a  record  of  one  ship  which  made  the  voyage 
in  1 73 1  on  which  there  was  such  a  scarcity  of  food  pro- 
vided for  the  passengers  that  they  "had  to  live  on  rats 
and  mice,  which  were  considered  dainties.  The  price 
on  board  for  a  rat  was  eighteen  pence,  and  for  a  mouse 
an  English  sixpence.  The  captain  was  under  the  im- 
pression that  the  passengers  had  considerable  money 
and  valuables  with  them,  and,  believing  that  he  might 
profit  by  it,  he  endeavored  to  reduce  them  to  a  state  of 
starvation.  He  succeeded  too  well,  for  out  of  the  156 
passengers  only  48  reached  America."  ^ 

These  wretched  victims  were  of  course  thrown  upon 
the  mercy  of  the  citizens  of  the  colony  in  which  they 
landed ;  Pennsylvania,  and  particularly  Philadelphia, 
were  especially  subject  to  visitations  of  this  kind.  The 
generosity  with  which  these  unfortunates  were  cared  for 

'  Kapp,  F.,  Imntigralioii  and  the  Commissioners  of  Emigration  oj  the  State  of 
New  York,  p.  ii. 


40  IMMIGRATION 

in  this  colony  is  remarkable.  Nevertheless,  the  burden 
was  a  heavy  one,  and  the  opposition  which  arose  to  the 
free  admission  of  this  class  of  persons  is  not  to  be  won- 
dered at.  A  new  country,  strugghng  to  subdue  the 
wilderness  and  to  establish  economic  independence, 
welcomes  hardy  and  industrious  laborers,  even  though 
they  bring  little  capital  with  them.  If  the  poverty  of 
the  immigrant  is  due  to  no  fault  of  his  own,  and  is  off- 
set by  a  sound  body  and  a  determined  spirit  of  industry, 
there  is  every  hope  that  the  influence  of  the  new  environ- 
ment may  set  him  permanently  on  his  feet.  But  an 
influx  of  people  so  deficient  in  moral  or  physical  stamina 
as  to  promise  nothing,  save  an  additional  burden  on  the 
already  strained  resources  of  the  community,  is  natu- 
rally and  justly  viewed  with  alarm.  Very  many  of  the 
immigrants  of  this  period  belonged  to  this  type. 

As  suggested  above,  the  low  physical  and  economic 
state  of  many  of  the  immigrants  was  due  to  the  condi- 
tions and  experiences  attending  the  passage  from  the  old 
country  to  the  new.  Many  an  immigrant  who  was  hale 
and  able-bodied  when  he  started  on  the  voyage  was  a 
physical  wreck  when  he  landed.  Many  others  who  were 
relatively  well-off  economically  on  leaving  home  ar- 
rived penniless.  It  was  the  practice  of  the  "importers" 
to  compel  passengers  who  had  means  to  settle  the  ac- 
counts of  those  who  had  not,  and  thus,  it  is  stated,  many 
who  had  been  well-to-do  were  reduced  to  house-to-house 
beggary.^  But  many  other  of  the  immigrants  were 
hopelessly  destitute  when  they  started.  Still  others  were 
criminals.  It  was  the  practice  of  European  nations  at 
this  time  to  empty  not  only  their  almshouses,  but  their 
jails,  into  their  own  colonies,  or  those  of  other  nations. 

*  Pennsylvania  Colonial  Records,  6 :  385. 


THE   UNITED   STATES.     COLONIAL   PERIOD     41 

Thus  many  of  the  colonists,  as  well  as  of  the  immigrants, 
belonged  to  the  pauper  and  criminal  classes.^ 

This  action  of  European  states  was  naturally  bitterly 
complained  of  by  the  colonies.  But  as  long  as  they  were 
colonies,  and  had  no  independent  standing,  it  could  be 
httle  more  than  a  complaint."  After  the  War  of  the 
Revolution  it  became  a  matter  of  international  relations, 
and,  as  will  appear  later,  attracted  no  little  attention. 

Pennsylvania,  being  the  destination  of  the  largest 
number  of  immigrants,  suffered  most  from  troubles  of 
this  sort.  Consequently,  in  this  colony  we  find  the  most 
powerful  body  of  opinion  contrary  to  the  free  admission 
of  aliens,  and  the  most  frequent  and  stringent  measures 
to  control  it.  Many  of  the  stock  arguments  against 
immigration  on  the  grounds  of  pauperism,  criminality, 
and  inability  for  self-support  developed  during  this 
period. 

One  of  the  earliest  Pennsylvania  statutes  covering 
this  ground  was  an  act  passed  in  1722,  imposing  a  tax 
on  every  criminal  landed,  and  making  the  shipowner  re- 
sponsible for  the  good  conduct  of  his  passengers.^  This 
was  followed  by  numerous  other  laws  designed  to  help 
control  the  immigration  situation.  One  of  the  most 
important  of  these  was  the  act  of  September  21,  1727, 
which  was  passed  at  the  suggestion  of  the  colonial  gov- 
ernor, who  feared  that  the  peace  and  security  of  the  prov- 

'  Early  examples  of  this  practice  are  furnished  by  Holland,  which  in  1655 
sent  out  large  numbers  of  orphan  boys  and  girls  from  its  asylums.  The  action 
in  this  case  was  less  grievous,  however,  as  they  were  apparently  bound  out  to 
service  for  a  term  of  four  years,  so  that  they  did  not  at  once  come  on  the  com- 
munity. Documents  relating  to  the  Colonial  History  of  New  York,  14:166, 
264,  etc. 

'  Cf.  Proper,  E.  E.,  op.  cit.,  pp.  10,  20. 

*  Diflenderflcr,  F.  R.,  German  Immigration  into  Pennsylvania  through  Philadel- 
phia, p.  143. 


42  IMMIGRATION 

ince  was  endangered  by  so  many  foreigners  coming  in, 
ignorant  of  the  language,  settling  together  and  making, 
as  it  were,  a  separate  people.  This  is  one  of  the  earliest 
instances  of  the  use  of  the  nonassimilation  argument  in 
connection  with  immigration  legislation.  The  act  in 
question  provided  that  shipmasters  bringing  immi- 
grants must  declare  whether  they  had  permission  from 
the  court  of  Great  Britain  to  do  so,  and  must  give  lists 
of  all  passengers  and  their  intentions  in  coming.  The 
immigrants  must  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the 
king,  and  of  fidelity  to  the  Proprietary  of  the  Province. 
On  the  day  the  act  was  passed,  an  agreement  was 
signed  by  109  persons,  representing  about  four  hun- 
dred immigrants,  who  had  arrived  at  the  port  and 
were  waiting  to  be  landed.  A  pathetic  touch  is  given 
to  the  incident  by  the  naive  statement,  "Sundry  of 
these  forreigners  lying  sick  on  board,  never  came  to 
be  qualified." 

This  act  remained  in  force  for  some  time,  but  appears 
to  have  been  more  or  less  of  a  dead  letter,  for  the  ship- 
masters never  seem  to  have  had  any  license  to  bring 
immigrants,  and  yet  the  latter  were  always  admitted.^ 
This  law  was  slightly  modified  in  1729,  and  a  tax  of 
forty  shillings  was  laid  on  each  immigrant.  This  is 
an  early  instance  of  the  use  of  a  head  tax  as  a  restrictive 
measure,  for  among  the  reasons  assigned  for  its  passage 
we  find  mention  of  the  necessity  "to  discourage  the 
great  importation  and  coming  in  of  foreigners  and  of 
lewd,  idle,  and  ill-affected  persons  into  this  province,  as 
well  from  parts  beyond  the  seas  as  from  the  neighbor- 
ing colonies,"  whereby  the  safety  and  quiet  of  the  prov- 
ince are  endangered,  many  of  them  becoming  a  great 

1  Pennsylvania  Colonial  Records,  2  :  282  ff. 


THE  UNITED   STATES.     COLONIAL   PERIOD     43 

burden  upon  the  community.  It  was  asserted  that  ship- 
masters resorted  to  deceitful  methods  in  the  furtherance 
of  the  practice  of  bringing  in  convicts.^  This  accusa- 
tion was  substantiated  by  an  event  which  occurred  a 
short  time  previously,  when  "a  vessel  arrived  at  Annap- 
oHs  with  66  indentures,  signed  by  the  Mayor  of  Dubhn, 
and  22  wigs  to  disguise  the  convicts  when  they  landed."  ^ 
The  provision  imposing  a  head  tax  of  forty  shillings  was 
repealed  within  a  very  few  months.^ 

Through  the  discussions  of  this  matter  can  be  traced 
a  frequent  conflict  of  opinion  between  the  colonial 
governor  and  the  assembly.  The  former,  representing 
the  interests  of  the  Proprietary,  was  incHned  to  wel- 
come anything  which  tended  to  increase  the  population 
of  the  colony  at  whatever  cost.  The  latter,  representing 
the  people,  is  concerned  for  the  character  of  the  settlers 
and  the  financial  welfare  of  the  colony ."^  This  is  well 
illustrated  by  the  progress  of  the  effort  to  secure  an 
immigrant  hospital  in  Philadelphia.  The  erection  of 
such  a  building  had  been  recommended  to  the  assembly 
by  Governor  George  Thomas  as  early  as  1740,  in  the 
interests  of  humanity.  But  the  house  demurred  on  the 
ground  of  expense,  and  several  years  of  haggling  passed 
before  a  pest-house  was  finally  erected.  In  the  mean- 
time much  difficulty  was  experienced  with  "sickly  ves- 
sels," and  a  law  was  passed  requiring  all  ships  to  anchor 
a  mile  from  the  city,  until  inspected  by  the  port  physi- 
cian. If  sick  passengers  were  found  on  board,  the  ship- 
master was  required  to  land  them  at  a  suitable  distance 

'  DiffenderSer,  op.  cil.,  pp.  51-53. 

'  Ibid.,  p.  S3,  quoted  from  Watson's  Annals  of  Philadelphia,  2 :  266-7. 
'  Proper,  op.  cit.,  p.  50. 

*  The  action  of  the  governor  in  recommending  the  passage  of  the  act  of  1727 
is  exceptional. 


44  IMMIGRATION 

from  the  city  and  convey  them  at  his  own  expense  to 
houses  in  the  country  prepared  for  them.^ 

The  house,  on  its  part,  made  vain  attempts  for  a 
period  of  fifteen  years  or  more  to  get  a  bill  passed  which 
should  check  the  overcrowding  of  immigrants  in  ships. 
The  ostensible  reasons  urged  were  mainly  those  of  human- 
ity, and  they  rested  on  an  ample  basis.  The  degree  of 
overcrowding  was  frightful.  It  was  stated  that  in  many 
cases  the  chests  of  apparel  belonging  to  immigrants 
were  shipped  in  other  vessels  to  make  more  room  for 
passengers,  so  that  the  immigrants  had  no  chance  even 
to  change  their  clothes  during  the  long  voyage  of  some- 
times sixty  days.^  But  underlying  this  there  was  un- 
doubtedly the  desire  to  reduce  the  number  of  immigrants. 
It  was  represented  that  whereas  the  German  importations 
were  at  first  of  good  class,  people  of  substance,  now  they 
were  the  refuse  of  the  country,  and  that  ''the  very  goals 
[sic]  have  contributed  to  the  Supplies  we  are  burdened 
with." 

In  the  southern  colonies  we  find  much  the  same  atti- 
tude of  welcome  to  respectable  settlers,  and  fear  of 
criminals  and  paupers,  with  this  difference,  that  as  im- 
migration was  slower  into  these  colonies,  more  active 
measures  were  occasionally  taken  by  the  colonies  them- 
selves to  encourage  it.  Thus  in  1669  North  Carolina 
passed  a  law  exempting  new  settlers  from  levies  for  one 
year,  and  from  action  for  debt  for  five  years.  But  they 
were  debarred  from  holding  ofiice  for  three  years.^ 

Maryland  early  experienced  difiiculties  with  imported 

'  Pennsylvania  Colonial  Records,  4:  516. 

2  William  Penn  in  his  day  reckoned  the  average  voyage  at  between  six  and  nine 
weeks,  though  voyages  sometimes  took  four  months.  Diffenderffer,  op.  cit., 
pp.  29,  62.  ^ 

•North  Carolina  Colonial  Documents,  25  :  120. 


THE   UNITED   STATES.     COLONIAL   PERIOD     45 

criminals.  On  account  of  the  practice,  which  appears 
to  have  been  common,  of  importing  notorious  criminals, 
the  general  assembly  of  this  province  in  1676  passed  an 
act  requiring  all  shipmasters  to  declare  whether  they 
had  any  convicts  on  board.  If  so,  they  were  not  to  be 
allowed  to  land  in  the  province.  Any  person  presuming 
to  import  such  convicts  must  pay  a  fine  of  2000  pounds 
of  tobacco,  half  to  go  to  the  Proprietary  and  half  to  the 
informer.^  On  December  9  of  the  same  year  the  lieu- 
tenant governor  issued  a  proclamation  requiring  all 
shipmasters  who  had  landed  convicts  previous  to  this 
act  going  into  effect  to  deposit  a  bond  of  £50  for  their 
good  behavior.  Any  landed  without  this  bond  were  to 
be  put  in  prison  until  the  bond  was  paid.^  This  is  one 
of  the  earliest  instances  of  bonding  shippers  for  the  good 
conduct  of  their  passengers. 

On  the  other  hand,  settlers  of  good  character  were 
regarded  as  very  valuable  acquisitions,  and  measures 
were  adopted  from  time  to  time  to  encourage  their  im- 
migration.^ 

In  New  England  the  immigration  question  was  less 
pressing  than  in  either  the  central  or  southern  colonies. 
There  was  less  need  of  passing  direct  restrictive  meas- 
ures,^ because  the  rehgious  exclusiveness  of  this  section 
kept  away  many  who  might  otherwise  have  come.  And 
there  was  Uttlc  necessity  of  encouraging  immigration, 

1  Archives  of  Maryland,  2  :  540.  '  Ibid.,  15  :  36. 

*  See,  for  instance,  Archives  of  Maryland,  13  :  440  and  19 :  183.  • 

*  Yet  in  1700  Massachusetts  passed  an  elaborate  immigration  law,  requirinK 
shipmasters  to  furnish  lists  of  their  passengers,  and  prohibitinR  the  introduction 
of  lame,  impotent,  or  infirm  persons,  or  those  incapable  of  maintaining  them- 
selves, except  on  security  that  the  town  should  not  become  charged  with  them. 
In  the  absence  of  this  security,  shipmasters  were  compelled  to  take  them  back 
home.  This  statute  was  reenacted  with  amendments  from  lime  to  time. 
Proper,  op.  cit.,  pp.  29,  3. 


46  IMMIGRATION 

as  the  natural  increase  of  the  population  was  sufficient 
to  maintain  an  adequate  number  of  inhabitants.  In 
fact,  the  influx  of  population  from  Europe  to  New  Eng- 
land was  practically  over  by  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth 
century.  It  is  stated  that  from  1628  to  1641  about 
twenty  thousand  English  came  as  permanent  colonists 
to  New  England,  and  for  the  next  century  and  a  half 
more  went  from  there  to  England  than  came  from 
England  there. ^  As  a  result  of  these  conditions,  the 
population  of  this  region  was  much  less  mixed  than  in  the 
other  colonies.  Nevertheless,  it  was  a  prolific  and  grow- 
ing population,  and  "overflowed  into  the  other  colonies, 
without  receiving  corresponding  additions  from  them."  ^ 

In  spite  of  this  fact,  however,  a  certain  jealousy  was 
felt  toward  Pennsylvania,  on  account  of  the  large  num- 
ber of  foreigners  who  sought  her  shores.  This  feeling 
was  expressed  by  Dr.  Jonathan  Mayhew  in  his  election 
sermon  before  the  governor  and  legislature  of  Massa- 
chusetts in  1754.  While  he  surmised  that  Pennsylvania 
might  in  time  experience  some  inconvenience  from  too 
large  numbers  of  unassimilated  Germans,  yet  he  attrib- 
uted much  of  her  growth  and  prosperity  to  their  pres- 
ence. He  was  assured  that  the  English  element  in 
Massachusetts  was  already  too  well  established  for  there 
to  be  any  fear  of  too  great  an  admixture  of  ahcn  ele- 
ments, and  expressed  the  opinion  that  all  measures  to 
encourage  the  immigration  of  foreign  Protestants  were 
to  be  favored.^ 

New  York  frankly  shared  this  jealousy  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, and,  when  it  was  too  late,  made  efforts  to  attract 

1  Commrrcial  Relations  of  the  United  Stales,  1885-1886,  Appendix  III,  p.  1967. 

2  Hall,  Prescott  F.,  Immigration,  p.  4. 

'  Mass.  Election  Sermons,  1754,  pp.  30,  48. 


THE   UNITED    STATES.     COLONIAL   PERIOD     47 

immigrants  to  her  territory.  Thus  in  1736  Governor 
Clarke  caused  to  be  widely  circulated  in  Germany  an 
advertisement  in  which  he  proposed  to  give  500  acres  of 
land  to  each  of  the  first  two  hundred  families  who  should 
come  to  New  York  from  Europe.  The  measure  met 
with  no  great  success.^  Possibly  the  treatment  ac- 
corded to  the  would-be  settlers  of  a  generation  earUer 
still  lingered  in  the  memory  of  their  fellow-countrymen. 
In  addition  to  the  legislation  against  paupers  and 
criminals,  most  of  the  colonies  had  laws  designed  to 
prevent  the  entrance  of  rehgious  sects  who  were  not  re- 
garded with  favor.  The  class  most  discriminated  against 
was  the  Roman  Cathohcs,  and  the  eighteenth  century 
found  harsh  statutes  against  them  in  the  legislation  of 
most  of  the  colonies.-  Virginia,  and  all  the  New  England 
colonies  except  Rhode  Island,  had  laws  designed  to 
prevent  the  coming  in  of  Quakers.^  Rhode  Island  re- 
sembled Pennsylvania  in  the  religious  tolerance  which 
prevailed  there.*  Maryland  started  on  the  basis  of 
religious  toleration,  but  did  not  maintain  this  position.^ 
A  prejudice  against  Roman  Cathohcs  soon  manifested 
itself,  and  occasionally  found  expression  in  legislation. 
Thus  in  the  Maryland  statutes  for  1699  there  is  an  act 
entitled,  "  An  act  for  Raising  a  Supply  towards  the 
defraying  of  the  Publick  Charge  of  this  Province  and  to 
prevent  too  great  a  number  of  Irish  Papists  being  im- 
ported into  this  Province."  The  provisions  of  the  act 
required  shipmasters  to  pay  twenty  shillings  per  poll 
for  all  Irish  servants  imported,  as  well  as  for  negroes.*^ 
None  of  these  acts,  of  course,  was  absolutely  prohibitive. 

» Doc.  Col.  Hist,  of  N.  Y.,  6  :  Oo.  «  Proper,  E.  E.,  op.  cit.,  p.  13. 

'  Ibid.,  pp  25,  63.  *  Ibid.,  p.  36. 

'  Ibid.,  pp.  13,  57,  62.  *  Archives  of  Maryland,  22  :  497. 


48  IMMIGRATION 

Among  the  settlers  of  this  period  there  was  one  peculiar 
class  which  requires  special  mention.  They  were,  for 
the  most  part,  colonists  rather  than  immigrants,  though 
some  of  them  came  from  foreign  countries.  These 
were  the  indented  (or  indentured)  servants,  or  redemp- 
tioners.^  There  were  two  main  classes  of  them  — ■ 
those  who  were  brought  under  compulsion,  and  those 
who  came  voluntarily.  Of  the  first  class,  many  were 
convicted  criminals,  who  were  sent  over  in  great  num- 
bers from  the  mother  country,  and  on  arrival  were  in- 
dented as  servants  for  a  term  of  years.  Under  the  bar- 
barous legal  system  of  the  day  many  persons  were  sen- 
tenced to  death  for  insignificant  crimes,  such  as  stealing 
a  joint  of  meat  worth  over  a  shilling,  or  counterfeiting 
a  lottery  ticket.  Many  humane  judges  welcomed  exile 
as  an  alternative  to  the  death  penalty.  It  is  estimated 
that  possibly  as  many  as  fifty  thousand  criminals  were 
sent  to  America  from  the  British  Isles,  from  the  year 
1 7 17  until  the  practice  was  ended  by  the  War  of  Inde- 
pendence. Besides  the  criminals,  in  this  class  of  in- 
dented servants  were  many  who  were  kidnaped  and 
sent  over  to  America.  Press  gangs  were  busy  in  Lon- 
don, Bristol,  and  other  English  seaports,  seizing  boys  and 
girls,  usually,  but  not  always,  from  the  lowest  classes 

'  These  terms  are  used  somewhat  loosely  in  the  contemporary  documents  and 
in  modern  writings.  "Indented  servants"  is  the  broader  term,  including  all 
who  signed  indentures,  or  were  sold  under  an  indenture,  whether  they  came  will- 
ingly or  under  compulsion.  "  Redcmptioners"  is  scjmctimcs  used  to  refer  spe- 
cifically to  those  who  voluntarily  sold  themselves.  But  there  is  authority  for  the 
view  that  "redemptioner,"  strictly  speaking,  referred  to  one  who  came  without 
an  indenture,  on  the  expectation  of  finding  some  one  on  this  side  who  would 
pay  for  his  passage.  He  was  given  a  i)eriod  of  lime  after  landing  to  accomplish 
this.  Failing  in  this,  he  was  to  be  sold  by  the  captain  to  the  highest  bidder. 
See  Geiser,  K.  F.,  Rcdemplioncrs  and  Indentured  Servants  hi  the  Colony  and 
Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania,  Ch.  I.  But  the  words  are  sometimes  used 
interchangeably. 


THE   UNITED    STATES.     COLONIAL   PERIOD     49 

of  society,  and  sending  them  over  to  labor  as  indented 
servants  in  the  colonies. 

Those  who  came  voluntarily  were  respectable  but 
destitute  persons  who,  despairing  of  success  or  progress 
in  the  old  country,  sold  themselves  into  temporary 
slavery  to  pay  their  passage  over.  Many  of  these  came 
from  very  good  classes  of  society.  The  southern  colonies 
received  a  much  larger  number  of  indented  servants  of 
all  classes  than  the  northern  colonies,  as  the  semiplanta- 
tion  character  of  the  former  made  a  much  larger  demand 
for  servile  labor  than  in  the  farm  colonies  of  the  north. ^ 

Shipmasters  made  an  enormous  profit  from  this 
traffic,  adding  as  much  as  100  per  cent  of  the  actual 
cost  of  transportation  to  cover  risks.  Adults  were 
bound  out  for  a  term  of  three  to  six  years,  children  from 
ten  to  fifteen  years,  and  smaller  children  were,  without 
charge,  surrendered  to  masters  who  had  to  rear  and  board 
them.^  As  a  rule  the  indented  servants,  on  the  arrival 
of  a  ship  at  an  American  port,  were  auctioned  off  to  the 
highest  bidder  at  a  pubhc  auction  very  Hke  a  slave 
market.  The  last  sales  of  this  kind  reported  took  place 
in  Philadelphia  in  1818  and  18 19.  These  were  mostly 
Germans.  Many  of  the  indented  servants  became 
eminent  and  respected  citizens  of  the  colonies,  while 
others  degenerated  and  became  the  progenitors  of  the 
"poor  white  trash"  of  the  south. 

As  a  result  of  this  study  of  the  colonial  period  the 
fact  stands  out  prominently  that  during  these  years 
both  colonization  and  immigration  entered  into  the  peo- 
pling of  the  Thirteen  Colonies.  The  distinction  between 
the  two  was  clearly  recognized  by  the  colonists  themselves, 

'  Fiske,  J.,  Old  Virginia  and  her  Xeighbors,  Vol.  II,  pp.  177  B. 
*  Evans-Gonion,  W.,  The  Alirn  lmmii;rant,  pp.  192-19J. 
E 


50  IMMIGRATION 

and  immigrants  were  accorded  different  treatment  from 
colonists.  In  the  handling  of  the  situation  many  of 
the  stock  arguments  against  unrestricted  immigration 
were  developed,  and  some  of  the  important  legislative 
expedients,  such  as  the  head  tax,  the  bonding  of  shippers, 
the  exclusion  of  paupers  and  criminals,  etc.,  which  have 
had  a  wide  use  in  later  years,  were  put  into  practice. 
It  is  very  noteworthy,  however,  that  in  all  the  discussions 
of  this  question  during  this  period  one  searches  in  vain 
for  any  trace  of  opposition  to  immigration  on  the  grounds 
of  the  economic  competition  of  the  newcomer  with  the 
older  residents.  In  the  unsettled  state  of  the  country 
at  this  time,  such  a  thing  could  hardly  be  thought  of. 
The  idea  of  any  crowding  of  the  industrial  field,  or  any 
lack  of  economic  opportunity  for  an  unlimited  number, 
was  almost  inconceivable.  It  is  this,  more  than  any 
other  one  thing,  which  differentiates  the  immigration 
situation  during  the  colonial  period  from  that  at  the 
present  time. 

Two  other  fundamental  facts  in  reference  to  the  for- 
mation of  the  new  American  people  should  also  be  noted 
in  this  connection.  The  first  is  that  the  actual  trans- 
ference of  people  from  Europe  to  America  during  the 
entire  colonial  period  was  relatively  slight.  Benjamin 
Franklin  stated  that  in  1741  a  population  of  about 
one  million  had  been  produced  from  an  immigration 
(used  in  the  broad  sense)  of  less  than  80,000.^  As  an 
indication  of  how  much  less  important  this  "immigra- 
tion" was  than  the  recent  immigration  into  the  United 
States  has  been,  it  may  be  noted  that  the  ratio  between 
immigrants  and  total  population,  at  the  period  that 
Frankhn  mentioned,  was  one  to  twelve  for  a  period  of 

1  Hall,  P.  F.,  Immigration,  p.  4. 


THE   UNITED   STATES.     COLONIAL   PERIOD     51 

120  years  or  more,  while  the  ratio  between  immigrants 
since  1820  and  population  in  1900  — a  period  of  only 
eighty  years  —  was  one  to  four.  "After  the  first  outflow 
from  Old  to  New  England,  in  1630-31,  emigration 
was  checked,  at  first  by  the  changing  circumstances  of 
the  struggle  between  the  people  and  the  king,  and,  when 
the  struggle  was  over,  by  the  better-known  ditficulties 
of  life  in  the  colonies."  ^ 

The  second  of  these  facts  is  that  such  additions  to 
population  as  there  were,  while  containing  a  number  of 
diverse  elements,  were  predominantly  English,  and  that 
those  who  were  not  English  were  almost  wholly  from 
races  closely  allied  to  the  English.  These  were  prin- 
cipally the  Dutch,  Swedes,  Germans,  and  Scotch-Irish, 
which  with  the  English,  as  Professor  Commons  has 
pointed  out,  were,  less  than  two  thousand  years  ago,  all 
one  Germanic  race  in  the  forests  surrounding  the  North 
Sea.  "  It  is  the  distinctive  fact  regarding  colonial  migra- 
tion that  it  was  Teutonic  in  blood  and  Protestant  in 
religion."  -  Tliis  Protestantism  was  important,  not  so 
much  because  of  the  superiority  of  one  form  of  re- 
ligion over  another,  as  because  of  the  type  of  mind  and 
character  which  Protestantism  at  that  day  represented. 
It  stood  for  independence  of  thought,  moral  conviction, 
courage,  and  hardihood. 

The  English  element,  then,  was  sufficiently  preemi- 
nent quickly  to  reduce  all  other  elements  to  its  type. 
As  a  result  of  the  character  of  the  migration  assimilation 
was  easy,  quick,  and  complete.  While  it  was  said  that 
every  language  of  Europe  could  be  found  in  Pennsylvania, 
this  diversity  was  short-lived.  ''No  matter  how  diverse 
the  small  immigration  might  have  been  on  its  arrival, 

'  Encyc.  Brilunnka,  article  "United  Stales."        -  Commons,  »p.  cil.,  p.  27. 


52  IMMIGRATION 

there  was  a  steady  pressure  on  its  descendants  to  turn 
them  into  EngHshmen ;  and  it  was  very  successful.  .  .  . 
The  whole  coast,  from  Nova  Scotia  to  the  Spanish  pos- 
sessions in  Florida,  was  one  in  all  essential  circum- 
stances." ^ 

Such,  then,  was  the  American  people  at  the  time  of 
the  Revolution  —  a  physically  homogeneous  race,  com- 
posed almost  wholly  of  native-born  descendants  of 
native-born  ancestors,  of  a  decidedly  English  type,  but 
with  a  distinct  character  of  its  own.  This  was  the 
great  stock  from  which  the  people  of  the  United  States 
grew,  and  upon  which  all  subsequent  additions  must  be 
regarded  as  extraneous  grafts. 

^  Encyc.  Britannica,  article  "United  States." 


CHAPTER   III 

1783    TO    1820 

With  the  beginning  of  the  hfe  of  the  United  States 
as  a  separate  nation,  all  strangers  arriving  at  her  shores, 
whencesoever  they  came,  are  to  be  classed  as  immi- 
grants. From  this  time  on  colonization  may  be  dropped 
out  of  the  reckoning,  and  all  increments  of  population 
from  foreign  sources  be  considered  under  the  head  of 
immigration. 

The  first  forty-odd  years  of  our  national  life  are  in- 
cluded in  the  second  of  the  five  periods  which  have  been 
distinguished.  During  this  period  no  accurate  statistics 
were  kept  of  the  arrival  of  immigrants.  The  federal 
government  took  no  control  of  the  matter  whatever,  and 
the  records  of  the  states,  taken  mainly  at  the  custom- 
houses, were  fragmentary  and  unreliable.  Consequently 
there  is  no  certainty  as  to  the  number  or  source  of  the 
arrivals  during  these  years,  and  we  are  forced  to  rely  on 
estimates.  The  best  known  are  those  of  Seybert  and 
Blodgett,  which  are  generally  taken  as  the  basis  of  other 
estimates.  The  Bureau  of  Statistics  in  its  pamphlet 
on  "Immigration  into  the  United  States"  (1903)  says, 
"The  best  estimates  of  the  total  immigration  into  the 
United  States  prior  to  the  official  count  puts  [sic]  the 
total  number  of  arrivals  at  not  to  exceed  250,000  in 
the  entire  period  between  1776  and  1820"  (p.  4336). 
In  an  unpublished  study  of  this  question  Mr.  J.  L. 
Leonard  of  Yale  University  finds  this  estimate  j)robably 

53 


54  IMMIGRATION 

too  small,  and  thinks  tliat  the  figure  345,000  would 
come  nearer  to  representing  the  total  number  of  im- 
migrants from  1784  to  1 8 10. 

One  thing  is  certain,  however,  that  immigration  during 
this  period  was  far  from  being  a  burning  issue,  or  from 
attracting  any  great  amount  of  attention.  An  average 
of  ten  thousand  arrivals  a  year  was  not  a  matter  of  great 
importance,  and  the  young  nation  had  enough  more 
weighty  matters  to  engage  her  attention  to  prevent 
her  devoting  much  thought  to  immigration.  It  is  true 
that  the  need  of  an  increasing  population  was  still  felt, 
as  it  had  been  during  colonial  days,  but  the  native 
population  was  multiplying  at  an  extraordinary  rate 
(doubling  about  every  twenty-two  years)  and  seemed 
thoroughly  capable  of  supplying  the  entire  need. 

Yet  we  find  occasional  references  to  the  matter  in  the 
contemporary  literature,  and  the  subject  was  evidently 
one  which  frequently  came  up  for  discussion.  In  general, 
foreigners  were  not  regarded  as  such  desirable  citizens 
as  natives,  and  it  was  considered  unwise  to  give  new- 
comers too  much  power  or  responsibility  in  the  govern- 
ment.^ Benjamin  Frankhn,  writing  in  the  American 
Museum  for  the  year  1787,  stated  that  the  only  en- 
couragements which  this  government  holds  out  to  stran- 
gers are  such  as  are  derived  from  good  laws  and  liberty. 
"Strangers  are  welcome,  because  there  is  room  enough 
for  them  all,  and  therefore  the  old  inhabitants  are  not 
jealous  of  them.  .  .  .  One  or  two  years'  residence 
give  him  [the  immigrant]  all  the  rights  of  a  citizen ; 
but  the  government  does  not  at  present,  whatever  it 
may  have  done  in  former  times,  hire  people  to  become 
settlers,  by  paying  their  passage,  giving  land,  negroes, 

'  American  Museum,  1 :  206. 


1783  TO  1820  55 

utensils,  stock,  or  any  other  kind  of  emolument  what- 
soever." ^ 

A  citizen  of  Pennsylvania,  writing  to  a  friend  in  Great 
Britain,  enumerated  the  classes  which  could  profitably 
come  to  America  as  follows :  farmers,  mechanics  and 
manufacturers,  laborers,  indented  servants,  followers  of 
the  learned  professions,  and  schoolmasters.  ''The  en- 
couragement held  out  to  European  immigrants  is  not 
the  same  in  all  the  states.  New  England,  New  York, 
and  New  Jersey,  being  nearly  filled  with  cultivators  of 
the  earth,  afford  encouragement  chiefly  to  mechanics 
and  laborers."  Manufacture  is  said  to  be  flourishing 
in  these  sections.  "European  artists,  therefore,  cannot 
fail  of  meeting  with  encouragement  in  each  of  the  above 
states."  Pennsylvania  is  said  to  welcome  all  people 
belonging  to  the  classes  mentioned  above  as  needed,  and 
the  writer  expresses  his  behef  that  the  progress  of  art 
and  science  has  been  greatly  favored  by  the  extreme 
heterogeneity  of  population  in  that  state,  where,  "we 
possess  the  virtues  and  weaknesses  of  most  of  the  sects 
and  nations  of  Europe."  ^ 

On  April  20, 1787,  a  paper  was  read  before  the  society  for 
poHtical  inquiries  at  the  house  of  Dr.  Franklin.  The  sub- 
ject was  "An  enquiry  into  the  best  means  of  encouraging 
emigration  from  abroad,  consistently  with  the  happiness 
and  safety  of  the  original  citizens."  The  author  admits 
at  the  outset  that  it  is  a  question  how  much  encourage- 
ment ought  to  be  given  to  immigration.  There  seems 
to  be  a  need  for  an  increase  of  population.  On  the 
other  hand,  we  have  a  right  to  restrict  immigration  when- 
ever it  appears  likely  to  prove  hurtful.  Some  prudent 
men  have  a  well-grounded  fear  of  the  harm  wliich  may 

'/Wrf.,  7:  233.  *  Ibid.,  2:  213. 


56  IMMIGRATION 

result  from  admitting  foreigners  too  freely  into  partici- 
pation in  the  rights  of  citizenship.  Foreign  powers  might 
take  advantage  of  such  concessions  to  accomplish  injury 
to  the  nation.  The  author  doubts  the  validity  of  these 
fears,  especially  when  it  is  considered  that  the  usual 
motive  for  emigration  is  dissatisfaction  with  the  old 
country. 

The  author  reverts  to  the  old  question  of  imported 
criminals,  remarking,  "With  a  most  preposterous 
policy,  the  former  masters  of  this  country  were  accus- 
tomed to  discharge  their  jails  of  the  violent  part  of 
their  subjects,  and  to  transmit  shiploads  of  wretches, 
too  worthless  for  the  old  world,  to  taint  and  corrupt  the 
infancy  of  the  new."  With  a  somewhat  unwarranted 
optimism  he  adds,  "It  is  not  now  likely  that  these  states 
will  be  insulted  with  transportations  of  this  sort,  directly 
ordered  from  any  other  sovereign  power."  Pennsyl- 
vania seems  to  be  the  only  state  which  appears  sensible 
of  the  danger  from  the  poor  quality  of  citizens.  Refer- 
ring to  acts  which  have  already  been  noted,  the  author 
says  that  Pennsylvania  requires  her  naturalized  citizens 
to  be  of  good  character,  as  far  as  this  can  be  determined, 
and  also  remarks,  "Pennsylvania,  swelling  hourly  with 
arrivals  of  honest,  industrious  Germans  and  others, 
wisely  discouraged  by  a  duty,  what  she  dared  not  openly 
prohibit." 

The  conclusion  of  the  whole  matter  is  that  "the  best 
means  of  encouraging  emigration  may  therefore  be  truly 
said  to  be  the  cultivation  of  industry  and  virtue  among 
ourselves,  and  the  establishment  of  wholesome  laws  upon 
permanent  foundations,  which  may  render  the  comforts 
we  enjoy  objects  of  desire  and  pursuit  to  others."  ^ 

1  American  Museum,  lo :  114. 


1783    TO    1820  57 

The  foregoing  quotations  may  be  taken  as  represen- 
tative of  the  prevailing  attitude  toward  immigration 
among  the  body  of  the  American  people.  It  is  note- 
worthy that  there  is  still  no  fear  of  the  economic  com- 
petition of  the  immigrants,  though  there  is  a  faint  fore- 
shadowing of  such  a  condition  in  the  preference  expressed 
for  "artists"  as  against  agriculturists,  of  which  there 
already  seemed  to  be  enough  in  some  states.  On  the 
whole,  however,  immigrants  were  regarded  as  assets, 
and  there  existed  a  vigorous  sentiment  in  favor  of  en- 
couraging them  to  come. 

This  sentiment  occasionally  found  more  active  ex- 
pression than  that  recommended  in  the  passage  quoted. 
North  Carohna,  for  instance,  by  an  act  of  the  general 
assembly,  passed  in  1790,  granted  to  Henry  Emmanuel 
Lutterloh  the  right  to  raise  $6000  per  year  for  five 
years  by  lottery,  for  the  purpose  of  introducing  foreign 
artisans.^  Niles^  Register  for  November  9,  1816,  states 
that  "Col.  Nicholas  Gray,  after  having  consulted  with 
the  governor  of  the  Mississippi  territory,  is  authorized 
to  invite  any  number  of  industrious  emigrants  into  that 
country,  where  they  will  be  provided  with  lands,  rent 
free  for  three  years,  and  with  cattle  and  corn  at  the  usual 
rates." 

The  fear  of  foreign  influence  on  our  politics,  to  which 
reference  has  been  made  above,  grew  stronger  during 
the  next  decade,  and  finally  led  to  the  passage  of  the 
Alien  Bill  in  1798,  by  which  the  president  was  em- 
powered to  deport  all  aliens  whom  he  regarded  as 
dangerous  to  the  country.  This  act  was  a  result  of  tran- 
sitory unsettled  conditions,  particularly  the  expecta- 
tion of  a  war  with  France,  and  contained  a  proviso  that 

'  North  Carolina  Colonial  Documents,  25  :  120. 


58  IMMIGRATION 

it  should  expire  two  years  after  passage.  But  it  contains 
an  important  permanent  principle  —  that  of  the  right 
of  deportation  —  which  has  been  made  much  of  in 
recent  years. 

The  discussion  of  the  question  of  naturaHzation 
brought  out  some  decided  opinions  on  both  sides  of  the 
immigration  problem.^  The  period  of  residence  re- 
quired for  naturalization  was  set  at  two  years  by  the 
act  of  1790,  but  this  was  raised  to  five  years  in  1795. 
The  war  excitement  which  marked  the  closing  years  of 
the  century  led  to  the  passage  of  an  act  in  1798  requiring 
a  residence  of  fourteen  years  for  naturalization.  This 
was  repealed  after  four  years,  and  the  provisions  of  the 
act  of  1795  were  again  put  in  force.  They  have  re- 
mained unchanged  in  their  essentials  ever  since.  In 
addition  to  the  period  of  residence  required,  there  was 
much  discussion  as  to  the  charge  to  be  made  for  naturali- 
zation. It  was  proposed  by  some  to  set  this  at  $20, 
but  this  was  regarded  by  others  as  too  high,  and  the 
amount  was  finally  fixed  at  $5.^ 

There  was  little  change  in  the  attitude  toward  immi- 
gration during  the  following  years  up  to  1820.  The 
number  of  arrivals  remained  relatively  small.  The 
immigrants,  being  mainly  from  Germany  and  the  United 
Kingdom,  were  readily  assimilated.  In  1809  a  French 
immigrant  wrote  a  letter  from  Boston  in  which  he  said, 
''There  is  in  general  no  enmity  to  strangers  as  such,  but 
the  most  open,  unguarded  hospitality."  ^ 

'  Jefferson  is  quoted  as  having  expressed  the  wish  that  there  were  "  an  ocean 
of  fire  between  this  country  and  Europe,  so  that  it  might  be  impossible  for  any 
more  immigrants  to  come  hither."     Hall,  P.  F.,  op.  ciL,  p.  206. 

2McMaster,  J.  B.,  History  of  the  United  States,  Vol.  II,  p.  332;  "The 
Riotous  Career  of  the  Know  Nothings,"  Forum,  17:524;  Franklin,  Frank  G., 
Legislative  History  of  Naturalization. 

3  Monthly  Anthology,  Boston,  6 :  383. 


1783  TO  1820  59 

Shipping  conditions  were  still  very  bad.  We  are 
told  that  in  1818  one  ship  from  Amsterdam  embarked 
about  eleven  hundred  persons  for  America.  Out  of  these, 
about  five  hundred  died,  some  of  them  before  leaving  the 
shares  of  Europe.^  Some  ships  seem  to  have  followed 
the  practice  of  saiUng  from  Europe  with  a  cargo  of 
passengers,  ostensibly  for  America,  but  instead  of 
following  this  course,  stopping  at  some  near-by  island, 
compelling  their  passengers  to  disembark,  and  then 
going  back  to  the  mainland  for  a  fresh  load.  It  follows, 
of  course,  that  a  large  part  of  the  immigrants  who  finally 
reached  America  arrived  in  a  most  deplorable  condition. 

During  this  period  there  occurred  some  important 
events  which  had  the  effect  temporarily  of  interfering 
with  the  stream  of  immigration,  but  in  their  after  results 
were  largely  responsible  for  conditions  which  gave  to 
immigration  an  impetus  such  as  it  had  never  had  before. 
Foremost  among  these  were  the  Orders  in  Council,  the 
Embargo,  and  the  War  of  181 2.  These  great  events 
resulted  in  powerfully  stimulating  the  manufacturing 
industries  of  the  United  States.  Up  to  this  time,  ship- 
ping and  commerce  had  been  among  the  most  important, 
if  not  actually  the  leading,  forms  of  enterprise  for  the 
citizens  of  the  new  nation,  aside  from  agriculture.  The 
Embargo,  with  the  other  restrictive  conditions,  struck  a 
severe  blow  at  this  branch  of  industry,  and  forced  great 
numbers  of  Americans  to  devote  their  energies  to  other 
forms  of  enterprise,  notably  manufacturing. 

At  the  same  time  the  need  for  such  native  manufac- 
tures was  vastly  augmented  by  the  discontinuance  of 
the  suppHes  from  England.  This  forced  the  youthful 
nation  to  be  more  self-suflicient  and  independent  than 

*  Niles'  Register,  ij  :  378. 


6o  IMMIGRATION 

she  had  ever  been  before.  At  the  close  of  the  period  of 
interrupted  communication,  England  tried  to  dump  the 
goods  which  had  accumulated  in  her  warehouses  for  a 
number  of  years  upon  the  American  market  at  cut  prices. 
At  this  the  Americans  rebelled.  They  had  had  a  taste 
of  independence  and  hked  it,  and  in  the  protection  of 
their  infant  industries  they  inaugurated  that  long  series 
of  protective  tariff  measures  which  have  continued  to 
the  present  day.  And  whatever  may  be  said  of  the 
utility  of  these  measures  at  the  present  time,  there  can 
be  no  doubt  that  in  the  beginning  they  helped  to  estab- 
lish the  manufactures  of  this  country  upon  a  firm  basis. 
With  the  growth  of  manufactures,  there  arose  a  great 
demand  for  laborers,  particularly  skilled  laborers,  who 
knew  the  technique  of  industry.  There  was  also  a  great 
need  for  common  laborers  who  would  be  willing  to  go 
into  factories  and  do  the  routine  work.  This  supply 
was  not  forthcoming  from  the  native  population,  who 
were,  by  instinct  and  training,  independent  workers, 
particularly  agriculturists.  It  was  extremely  difficult 
to  persuade  any  great  number  of  them  to  forego  the 
possibility  of  becoming  independent  landowners  and 
cultivators,  in  order  to  become  hired  workers  in  some- 
body else's  factory.  The  close  of  the  second  historical 
period,  accordingly,  is  marked  by  a  keen  demand  for 
foreign  artisans,  and  the  beginning  of  a  general  demand 
for  immigrant  labor,  to  which  Europe  was  commencing 
to  respond. 


CHAPTER  IV 

1820    TO     i860 

The  first  act  passed  by  the  federal  government  of  the 
United  States  which  can  in  any  way  be  called  an  immi- 
gration law  was  primarily  designed,  not  to  restrict  or 
control  the  admission  of  immigrants  into  this  country, 
but  to  make  some  provision  for  their  comfort  and  safety 
while  on  the  voyage  —  matters  which  had  been  shock- 
ingly neglected  in  the  past,  with  the  result  of  untold 
sufferings  and  horrors.  These  evils  were  largely  due  to 
the  intolerable  overcrowding  on  shipboard  which  was 
habitual.  The  act  in  question  aimed  to  correct  these 
evils  by  Umiting  the  number  of  passengers  which  might 
be  carried  on  any  ship  to  two  to  every  five  tons  of  the 
ship's  weight.  It  furthermore  provided  that  each  ship 
or  vessel  leaving  an  American  port  was  to  have  on  board 
for  each  passenger  carried  sixty  gallons  of  water,  one 
gallon  of  vinegar,  one  hundred  pounds  of  salted  provi- 
sions, and  one  hundred  pounds  of  wholesome  ship  bread. 
It  is  very  doubtful  how  much  good  either  of  these  pro- 
visions ever  did  to  the  immigrants.  The  clause  in 
regard  to  overcrowding,  based  as  it  was  merely  on  the 
ship's  total  weight,  was  wholly  inadequate  to  prevent 
extreme  overcrowding  in  such  parts  of  the  vessel  as 
might  be  assigned  to  passengers.  And  as  far  as  the 
provision  regarding  supplies  is  concerned,  it  could  have 
been  of  no  help  to  the  immigrants,  as  it  applied  only  to 
ships  leaving  an  American  port.     There  was  one  provi- 

61 


62  IMMIGRATION 

sion  of  the  law,  however,  which  has  been  of  permanent 
benefit.  This  was  the  stipulation  that  at  the  port  of 
landing  a  full  and  complete  report  or  manifest  was  to 
be  made  by  the  ship's  ofl&cer  to  the  customs  authorities, 
which  was  to  state  the  number  of  passengers  carried, 
together  with  the  name,  sex,  age,  and  occupation  of  each. 
This  act  was  passed  on  March  2,  181 9,  and  in  the  year 
ending  September  30,  1820,  the  first  official  statistics  of 
immigration  were  collected.  From  this  time  to  the 
present  we  have  a  continuous  record  of  arrivals,  in- 
creasing in  detail  with  subsequent  legal  requirements. 
Thus  the  year  1820  stands  as  a  fitting  beginning  for  our 
third  period. 

The  decade  of  the  twenties  was  one  of  great  industrial 
activity  on  the  part  of  the  American  people.  Manu- 
factures increased.  The  Erie  Canal  was  completed,  others 
were  commenced,  and  there  was  a  fever  of  excitement 
about  them.  The  first  railroads  were  projected,  and 
vied  with  the  canals  in  arousing  public  enthusiasm. 
There  was  a  vast  movement  of  population  westward,  and 
the  Ohio  River  was  a  busy  thoroughfare. 

All  of  these  enterprises  aroused  a  demand  for  labor, 
which,  as  we  have  seen,  the  native  population  would 
not  readily  supply.  By  the  middle  of  the  decade  the 
stream  of  immigration  had  begun  to  respond,  so  that  in 
1825  the  number  of  arrivals  for  the  year  reached  the  ten 
thousand  mark  for  the  first  time  since  statistics  had 
been  collected.  By  the  end  of  the  decade  the  number  had 
more  than  doubled.  In  the  fifteen  months  ending 
December  31,  1832,  there  were  over  sixty  thousand 
arrivals,  and  in  the  year  1842,  104,565  —  the  first  time 
the  hundred  thousand  mark  had  been  reached.  Such 
an  enormous  increase  in  immigration  as  this  could  not 


l820    TO    i860  63 

fail  to  have  its  effect  upon  the  social  life  of  the  nation, 
and  to  attract  widespread  attention.  Coupled  with  the 
changing  nature  of  industry,  it  brought  many  new 
problems  before  the  American  people  —  congestion^ 
tenement  house  problems,  unemployment,  etc.  Pauper- 
ism, intemperance,  beggary,  and  prostitution  increased.^ 
For  many  of  these  evils  it  began  to  appear  that  the  im- 
migrants were  partly  responsible. 

Yet  during  the  twenties  it  seems  that  the  immigrants 
were,  on  the  whole,  in  good  favor.  The  great  economic 
need  which  they  filled  outweighed  the  social  burden 
which  they  imposed,  but  which,  as  yet,  was  only  vaguely 
felt.  The  hard  manual  labor  on  the  construction  enter- 
prises of  the  period  was  mainly  performed  by  Irish  labor- 
ers, who  flocked  over  in  great  numbers,  constituting  the 
largest  single  element  in  the  immigration  stream,  amount- 
ing to  probably  nearly  half  of  the  entire  number.  It  was 
believed  by  many  Americans,  as  well  as  by  foreign 
travelers  and  observers,  that  the  canals  and  railroads 
could  never  have  been  built  without  these  sturdy  Irish- 
men. They  were  a  turbulent  and  reckless  lot,  though 
perhaps  not  wholly  through  their  own  fault.  Their 
miserable  wages  were  supplemented  by  copious  suppHes 
of  whisky,  with  the  result  that  the  labor  camps  were 
frequently  the  scenes  of  riotous  demonstrations  which 
shocked  the  sensibilities  of  the  American  community. 

By  the  end  of  this  decade,  however,  the  evils  attendant 
upon  unregulated  immigration  were  beginning  to  make 
themselves  felt  among  the  native  population.  Chief 
among  these  was  the  danger  from  an  increase  of  pauper- 
ism. The  frightful  shipping  conditions,  which  had 
marked  previous  periods,  continued  with  practically  no 

'  McMaster,  J.  B.,  flislory  of  I  lie  United  Stales,  Vol.  V,  pp.  121  flf. 


64  IMMIGRATION 

amelioration.  The  records  of  the  time  are  full  of  heart- 
rending tales  of  crowded,  filthy,  unventilated  ships,  and 
penniless,  starved,  diseased  immigrants,  often  landed 
in  a  state  of  absolute  destitution.  The  sickening  details 
of  these  accounts  make  the  most  lurid  description  of 
present-day  steerage  conditions  seem  absolutely  colorless. 
Under  such  circumstances  it  was  inevitable  that  a  very 
large  number  of  these  miserable  victims  should  come 
immediately,  or  in  a  very  short  time,  upon  the  public 
for  support.  The  censuses  of  the  poorhouses  showed  an 
altogether  disproportionate  number  of  foreign-born 
paupers  among  the  inmates.  In  Philadelphia,  for  in- 
stance, it  appears  that  at  the  beginning  of  the  thirties 
the  foreign-born  paupers  made  up  nearly  one  third  of 
the  total  number,  and  by  1834  this  proportion  had  in- 
creased to  practically  one  half.^  Such  a  state  of  affairs 
naturally  aroused  the  consternation  of  the  natives,  and 
the  feeling  was  made  more  intense  by  the  belief  that 
many  of  these  paupers  were  taken  directly  from  the  alms- 
houses of  foreign  countries,  and  shipped  to  this  country 
at  pubhc  expense.  This  matter  has  been  the  subject  of 
so  much  debate  that  it  will  be  worth  while  to  examine 
the  truth  of  these  charges  in  this  connection. 

Mrs.  Trollope,  writing  in  1832,  said,  "I  frequently 
heard  vehement  complaints,  and  constantly  met  the 
same  in  the  newspapers,  of  a  practice  stated  to  be  very 
generally  adopted  in  Britain  of  sending  out  cargoes  of 
parish  paupers  to  the  United  States.  A  Baltimore 
paper  heads  some  such  remarks  with  the  words  'IN- 
FAMOUS CONDUCT'  and  then  tells  us  of  a  cargo  of 
aged  paupers  just  arrived  from  England,  adding  'John 
Bull  has  squeezed  the  orange  and  now  insolently  casts 

1  Hazard's  Register  of  Pennsylvania,  6:  266;  11 :  362,  416;  15  :  157. 


l820    TO    i860  65 

the  skin  in  our  faces.'"  Mrs.  Trollope  states  that  care- 
ful investigation  on  her  part  failed  to  substantiate  this 
charge.^  The  article  referred  to  is  one  which  appeared 
in  Niles^  Register  for  July  3,  1830.  It  gives  an  account 
of  the  ship  Anacreon  from  Liverpool,  which  arrived  at 
Norfolk  with  168  passengers,  three  fourths  of  whom 
were  transported  English  paupers,  cast  on  our  shores  at 
about  four  pounds  ten  shillings  per  head.  Many  of  them 
were  very  aged.  The  editor's  vehement  protest  against 
such  action  contrasts  sharply  with  the  complacency 
with  which  the  same  journal  had  viewed  the  advent  of  a 
crowd  of  transported  Irish  paupers  seven  years  earlier.- 

An  examination  of  the  evidence  on  the  question  tends 
to  support  the  statement  of  the  Baltimore  editor,  rather 
than  the  denial  of  Mrs.  Trollope.  Other  numbers  of 
Niles^  Register  contain  frequent  accounts  of  such  prac- 
tices. A  letter  written  from  England,  dated  February 
7,  1823,  and  pubHshed  in  this  journal  states,  "I  was 
down  in  the  London  docks  and  there  were  twenty-six 
paupers  going  out  in  the  ship  Hudson,  to  New  York, 
sent  by  the  parish  of  Eurbarst,  in  Sussex,  in  carriers' 
wagons,  who  paid  their  passage  and  gave  them  money 
to  start  with  when  they  arrived  in  the  U.  States."  The 
editor  states  that  "this  precious  cargo  has  arrived 
safely."  ^  Other  numbers  of  the  Register  contain  similar 
instances,  some  of  them  quoted  from  other  papers.'* 

So  far  the  evidence  consists  mostly  of  newspaper 
tales,  and  is  perhaps  open  to  reasonable  doubt,  though 
where  there  was  so  much  smoke  there  must  have  been 
some   fire.     But  more  reliable  testimony   is   available. 

*  Trollope,  Mrs.  T.  A.,  Domestic  Manners  of  the  Americans,  p.  121. 

^  Niles'  Register,  24:393.  ^  Ibid.,  .April  26,  1823. 

*  Ibid.,  Aug.  23,  1823;  July  21,  1827;  Aug.  14,  1830. 

F 


66  IMMIGRATION 

Charges  of  the  kind  in  question  finally  became  so  prev- 
alent that  the  government  ordered  an  investigation,  and 
on  May  15,  1838,  Mr.  John  Forsyth,  then  Secretary  of 
State,  presented  a  report  on  the  subject  of  pauperism 
and  immigration.  This  contains  a  large  amount  of 
testimony,  from  which  it  will  be  sufficient  to  select  a  few 
typical  cases. 

On  June  28,  1831,  Mr.  R.  M.  Harrison,  United  States 
consul  at  Kingston,  Jamaica,  reported  that  there  was  a 
local  law  compelling  shipmasters  who  left  that  port  to 
carry  away  paupers,  for  which  they  received  $10  each 
as  remuneration.  If  they  refused  to  take  them,  they 
were  fined  $300.  As  various  states  had  laws  forbidding 
the  landing  of  paupers,  it  was  customary  for  shipmasters 
to  sign  the  paupers  as  seamen.  The  pauper  had  the 
privilege  of  choosing  his  own  vessel,  and  most  of  them 
went  to  the  United  States.  Mr.  Van  Buren  called  the 
attention  of  Lord  Palmerston,  the  British  Foreign 
Secretary,  to  the  affair,  and  requested  a  discontinuance 
of  the  practice.  Lord  Palmerston  replied  that  the 
law  was  to  expire  December  31,  and  the  governor  of 
Jamaica  had  been  instructed  to  withhold  his  assent  to 
any  similar  law.^ 

Mr.  Albert  Davy,  United  States  consul  at  Kingston- 
upon-Hull,  Leeds,  England,  reported  that  while  no  re- 
liable fists  were  kept  at  customhouses,  distinguishing 
paupers  from  others,  it  was  generally  known  that  paupers 
emigrated,  and  several  shipmasters  admitted  that  pas- 
sage was  paid  by  parish  overseers.  If  a  pauper  was  an 
exceptionally  hard  case,  he  could  demand  considerable 
sums  of  money  in  addition  to  his  passage,  refusing  to  go 
unless  they  were  paid.^     Mr.  F.  List  on  March  8,  1837, 

1  Executive  (House)  Documents,  25th  Cong.,  2d  Ses.,  370.  ^  Ibid. 


i82o  TO  iS6o  67 

reported  from  Leipsic  that  not  only  paupers,  but  crim- 
inals, were  transported  from  the  interior  to  seaports,  to 
be  embarked  for  the  United  States.  A  certain  Mr. 
de  Stein  contracts  with  the  governments  to  transport 
paupers  for  $75  per  head,  and  several  of  the  govern- 
ments have  accepted  his  proposition.  There  is  a  plan 
to  empty  the  jails  and  workhouses  in  this  way.  It  is  a 
common  practice  in  Germany  to  get  rid  of  paupers  and 
vicious  characters  by  collecting  money  to  send  them  to 
the  United  States.^ 

That  it  was  customary  to  transport  criminals  as  well  as 
paupers  is  verified  by  the  fact  that  during  1837  two  lots 
of  con\'icts  arrived  in  Baltimore  :  one  a  party  of  fourteen 
convicts  on  a  ship  from  Bremen,  who  had  been  embarked 
in  irons,  which  had  not  been  stricken  off  until  near  the 
fort ;  the  other  a  shipload  of  200  to  250  Hessian  convicts, 
whose  manacles  and  fetters  remained  upon  their  hands 
and  feet  until  within  the  day  of  their  arrival.^ 

A  memorial  of  the  corporation  of  the  city  of  New  York, 
January  25,  1847,  states  that  within  the  last  year  the  ships 
Sardinia  and  Atlas  from  Liverpool  arrived  in  New  York, 
one  with  294  and  the  other  with  314  steerage  passengers, 
all  paupers,  sent  by  the  parish  of  Grosszimmern,  Hesse 
Darmstadt,  to  which  they  belonged  and  by  which  their 
expenses  were  paid.  Two  hundred  and  thirty-four  of 
these  immigrants,  117  from  each  ship,  eventually  found 
their  way  into  the  New  York  almshouse.^ 

On  January  19,  1839,  Niles^  Register  reported  a  crowd 
of  paupers  which  had  arrived  in  New  York  from  England. 
Their  passage  had  been  paid  by  the  overseers  of  the  poor 

» Ibid. 

'  Executive  (House)  Doc,  2sth  Cong.,  2d  Ses.,  370,  and  House  Reports  of 
Committees,  34th  CoriR.,  ist  and  2d  Ses.,  359. 

'  E.\ccutivc  (House)  Doc,  2(jth  Cong.,  2d  Ses.,  54. 


68  IMMIGRATION 

at  Edinburgh,  and  the  majority  of  them  were  still  wear- 
ing the  uniform  of  the  poorhouse.  This  naturally 
aroused  objections,  and  the  consignees  of  the  vessel 
finally  agreed  to  take  them  back  to  Europe,  and  to  re- 
pay the  city  all  expense  that  it  had  incurred  on  their  ac- 
count. The  United  States  consul  at  Basle,  Switzerland, 
reported  in  1846  that  it  was  the  practice  in  that  country 
for  congregations  or  town  authorities  to  send  paupers  to 
America.^ 

Instances  of  this  sort  might  be  multiphed,  but  these 
will  sufl&ce  to  prove  that  the  practice  of  transporting 
paupers  was  a  common  one  during  the  period  we  are  con- 
sidering. Just  when  it  was  finally  stopped  it  is  impossi- 
ble to  say.^  It  certainly  played  a  large  part  in  creating 
the  feeling  of  hostility  to  immigrants  which  manifested 
itself  strongly  during  the  decade  of  the  thirties. 

That  the  situation  was  partially,  at  least,  compre- 
hended also  in  England  is  evidenced  by  a  burlesque 
poem  entitled  "Immiscible  Immigration,"  written  in 
that  country,  which  commences  with  the  following  words : 

"The  tide  of  emigration  still  flows  fast ; 
Millions  of  souls  remove  their  bodies  corporate  — 
Columbia's  shores  will  be  o'erstocked  at  last. 
And  Yankees  must  support  them  by  a  pauper  rate. 
Others, 

With  their  brothers, 
Fathers  and  mothers, 

Rush  to  Austraha,"  etc.^ 

1  Senate  Doc,  29th  Cong.,  2d  Ses.,  161. 

*  As  late  as  1884-1885  thousands  of  immigrants  were  sent  from  Ireland  to 
the  United  States  and  Canada,  partly  at  state  expense  and  partly  at  the  expense 
of  the  "Tuke  Fund."  Some  of  these  were  admittedly  paupers.  Cf.  Tuke,  J. 
H.,  "State  Aid  to  Emigrants,"  Nineteenth  Century,  17  :  280. 

'  Knickerbocker,  7  :  78. 


l820    TO    i860  69 

While  the  dangers  from  pauperism  and  criminality  were 
probably  the  leading  causes  for  opposition  to  immigra- 
tion, at  this  time,  other  broader  and  deeper  objections 
were  beginning  to  be  felt  and  to  be  expressed  in  current 
writings.  In  the  North  American  Review  for  April,  1835 
(p.  457),  there  is  a  very  sane,  calm  and  convincing  article 
by  Mr.  A.  H.  Everett,  in  which  the  disadvantages  of  im- 
migration are  set  forth.  Many  of  the  stock  arguments 
of  to-day  are  well  set  forth  here,  among  them,  of  course, 
the  dangers  from  pauperism  and  crime,  but  also  the 
dangers  of  a  heterogeneous  population,  of  poor  assimila- 
tion, congestion  in  cities,  misuse  of  political  power,  and 
the  growth  of  foreign  colonies.  The  author  questions 
whether  the  immigrants  are  really  filling  the  demand 
for  labor,  and  urges  the  necessity  of  furnishing  the  im- 
migrants with  information  about  different  sections  of 
the  country,  and  advising  them  about  their  destination. 
He  also  feels  the  need  of  much  greater  discrimination 
in  the  admission  of  aliens. 

In  the  same  magazine,  in  the  issue  for  January,  1841, 
there  is  an  article  entitled  "The  Irish  in  America,"  in 
which  the  author  names  as  one  of  the  great  grievances 
against  the  immigrants  that  they  do  more  work  for  less 
money  than  the  native  workingmen,  and  live  on  a  lower 
standard,  thereby  decreasing  wages.  This  is  one  of  the 
earhest  expressions  which  we  find  of  this  objection,  and 
shows  that  by  this  time  the  country  had  passed  beyond 
the  primitive  stage  where  there  was  room  enough  for 
everybody,  and  no  fear  of  economic  competition.  It 
is  the  foreshadowing  of  modern  conditions  and  modern 
thought. 

There  was  still  another  ground  for  opposition  to  the 
immigrants  which  very  possibly  at  the  end  of  the  thirties 


^o  IMMIGRATION 

eclipsed  all  the  others  in  positive  influence.^  This  was 
the  hatred  and  fear  of  the  Roman  Catholic  religion,  to 
which  the  great  majority  of  the  Irish  adhered.  The 
Protestant  bias  which  had  strongly  characterized  the 
early  settlers  still  persisted  among  the  great  body  of  the 
American  people.  This  motive  was  the  leading  one 
which  led  to  the  formation  of  the  first  political  party 
which  was  openly  based  on  opposition  to  immigration. 
This  was  the  Native  American  party  which  came  into 
prominence  as  a  pohtical  movement  about  1835,  in  which 
year  there  was  a  Nativist  candidate  for  Congress  in 
New  York  City.  In  the  following  year  the  party 
nominated  a  candidate  for  mayor  of  New  York.  Nativist 
societies  were  formed  in  Germantown,  Pa.,  and  in  Wash- 
ington, D.C.,  in  1837,  and  two  years  later  the  party  was 
organized  in  Louisiana,  where  a  state  convention  was 
held  in  1841.  The  adherents  of  this  movement  did  not 
confine  themselves  to  peaceful  and  orderly  methods,  but 
resorted  to  anti-Catholic  riots  in  1844.  Two  Catholic 
churches  were  destroyed  in  Philadelphia,  and  a  convent 
in  Boston.^ 

In  1845  the  Nativist  movement  claimed  48,000  mem- 
bers in  New  York,  42,000  in  Pennsylvania,  14,000  in 
Massachusetts,  and  6000  in  other  states.  In  Congress 
it  had  six  representatives  from  New  York  and  two  from 
Pennsylvania.  Its  first  national  convention  was  held 
in  Philadelphia  in  1845.^  A  national  platform  was 
adopted,  the  chief  demands  being  the  repeal  of  the 
naturalization  laws,  and  the  appointment  of  native 
Americans  only  to  office.     They  succeeded  in  securing 

1  It  is  said  that  the  natives  suspected  a  deliberate  plan  on  the  part  of  the 
Catholic  powers  to  destroy  the  free  institutions  of  America.    McMaster,  Forum, 

» Hall,  P.  F.,  op.  cit.,  p.  207.  '  Franklin,  F.  G.,  op.  cit.,  p.  247. 


l820    TO    i860  71 

a  certain  amount  of  congressional  investigation  in  1838, 
and  a  bill  was  presented  by  a  committee  appointed  for 
the  purpose,  which  proposed  to  line  shipmasters  who 
tried  to  bring  into  the  United  States  ahens  who  were 
idiots,  lunatics,  maniacs,  or  afflicted  with  any  incurable 
disease,  in  the  sum  of  $1000,  and  to  require  them  to  for- 
feit a  like  sum  for  every  aHen  brought  in  who  had  not 
the  abihty  to  maintain  himself.  "Congress  did  not 
even  consider  this  bill,  and  during  the  next  ten  years 
httle  attempt  was  made  to  secure  legislation  against 
the  foreigner,"  ^  though  many  petitions  to  extend  the 
period  of  residence  for  naturalization  were  received.  The 
ever  increasing  opposition  to  unregulated  immigration 
had  not  yet  become  sufficiently  widespread  to  accomphsh 
any  positive  measures. 

During  this  period  the  immigrants  were  almost  wholly 
from  the  United  Kingdom  and  Germany,  with  the  Irish  in 
the  lead,  as  we  have  seen.  There  were  also  considerable 
numbers  of  French,  who  outnumbered  the  Germans  in 
some  years  in  the  early  part  of  the  period,  and  small 
contingents  from  various  other  nations,  particularly  the 
Scandinavian  countries.  It  was  natural  that  the  ties  of 
relationship,  language,  etc.,  should  put  the  United  King- 
dom at  the  head  at  this  time,  and  conditions  in  Ireland 
were  such  as  to  make  emigration  a  very  welcome  means 
of  relief.  The  Irish  tended  to  Hnger  in  the  cities,  where 
they  went  into  domestic  and  personal  service,  or  to  go 
out  into  the  construction  camps.  The  Germans  and 
Scandinavians,  on  the  other  hand,  tended  to  move  west- 
ward into  the  interior,  and  colonies  of  these  races  were 
becoming  numerous  in  several  of  the  middle  western 

'  Report  of  the  Immigration  Commission,  Federal  Immigration  Legislation, 
Abstract,  pp.  7,  8. 


72  IMMIGR.\TION 

states.  The  Germans  of  this  period  were  mostly  farmers 
from  the  thinly  settled  agricultural  sections  of  the  old 
country,  and  the  great  attraction  which  the  United  States 
had  for  them  was  the  ease  with  which  good  farm  lands 
might  be  secured  in  this  country.^ 

.  Most  of  the  agitation  about  immigration,  as  has  been 
intimated,  centered  round  the  Irish,  but  there  was  also 
some  feehng  against  the  Germans.  This  was  augmented 
by  the  decided  clannishness  of  these  people.  There 
were  many  German  societies  and  newspapers,  and  a 
strong  and  ill-disguised  movement  to  form  an  independ- 
ent German  state  in  Texas,  or  elsewhere  on  the  conti- 
nent, which  was  not  calculated  to  endear  them  to  the 
native  American. 

Up  to  the  year  1842  the  total  immigration  did  not 
reach  one  hundred  thousand  annually,  and  for  the  next 
three  years  it  fell  below  that  figure  again.^  During  the 
last  half  of  this  decade,  however,  certain  events  occurred 
in  Europe  which  vastly  increased  the  immigration  cur- 
rent, and  brought  the  matter  more  forcibly  to  the  notice 
of  the  American  people  than  ever  before.  These  were 
the  potato  famine  in  Ireland,  and  the  political  upheavals 
of  1848  in  various  nations  of  Europe,  particularly  in 
Germany.  The  result  of  the  latter  occurrences  was  to 
leave  a  large  number  of  middle  class  hberalists  in  Ger- 
many in  a  very  undesirable  situation,  in  spite  of  the 
partial  success  of  the  revolution.  The  way  out,  for 
them,  was  emigration.  This  is  one  of  the  best  examples 
in  history  of  the  political  cause  of  emigration,  though 
even  here  economic  motives  were  also  concerned.     A 

'  Roscher-Jannasch,  Kolonien,  Kolonialpolitik,  nnd  Auswanderung,  p.  380. 

2  The  statistics  at  this  period  are  confused  by  changes  in  the  time  of  ending 
of  the  fiscal  year,  but  the  above  statement  corresponds  with  the  figures  of  the 
Immigration  Commission. 


l820  TO   i860  73 

tremendous  emigration  followed,  reaching  its  climax 
in  1854,  when  215,009  immigrants  from  Germany  reached 
this  country.  These  were  mainly  persons  of  good 
character  and  independent  spirit,  as  might  be  expected 
from  the  causes  of  their  departure.  Considerable 
numbers  of  Bohemians  also  emigrated  at  this  period, 
similar  in  character  to  the  Germans,  and  actuated  by 
similar  motives  and  conditions. 

Conditions  in  Ireland  at  about  the  same  time  resulted 
in  an  emigration  rivaling  that  from  Germany  in  num- 
bers, but  by  no  means  so  desirable  from  the  point  of 
view  of  the  United  States.  It  was  almost  exclusively 
an  economic  movement.  The  introduction  of  the  potato 
into  Ireland  by  Raleigh  in  1610  had  seemed  at  first  a 
blessing  to  the  country.  It  furnished  an  easy  and  abun- 
dant food  supply,  and  its  cultivation  spread  rapidly. 
Population  increased  correspondingly,  growing  from 
2,845,932  in  1785  to  5,356,594  in  1803  and  8,295,061  in 
1845.  ^y  the  latter  year  most  of  the  population  were 
dependent  for  their  subsistence  upon  the  potato.  This 
was  a  precarious  situation,  for  the  potato  furnishes  the 
largest  amount  of  food  in  proportion  to  the  land  used 
of  almost  any  crop  which  is  grown  in  temperate  regions. 
In  other  words,  the  Irish  were  living  on  a  very  low  stand- 
ard as  far  as  food  was  concerned,  with  no  margin  to  fall 
back  on  in  case  of  calamity.  A  people  subsisting  upon 
grains  and  meat  may,  in  time  of  distress,  resort  to  cheaper 
and  more  easily  secured  food  materials  temporarily. 
But  a  land  which  is  densely  populated  by  people  living 
on  the  cheapest  possible  food  has  no  resources  when 
any  misfortune  attacks  their  staple  supply.  Ireland 
was  in  this  situation  in  the  middle  forties,  and  the  mis- 
fortune came  in  the  shape  of  the  potato  murrain,  wliich 


74  IMMIGRATION 

attacked  the  plants  in  1845  ^^d  caused  an  almost  com- 
plete failure  of  the  crop  for  that  year. 

Extreme  hardship,  privation,  and  distress  followed. 
From  200,000  to  300,000  died  of  starvation  or  of  fever 
caused  by  insufificient  food.  All  who  could  sought  relief 
in  flight.  Benevolent  agencies  in  England  and  Ireland 
came  to  their  assistance,  and  enormous  numbers  of  Irish, 
in  one  way  or  another,  found  the  means  for  emigration, 
and  embarked  for  Canada  or  the  United  States.  Added 
to  the  great  numbers  of  Germans  who  were  coming  at 
the  same  time,  they  caused  the  first  great  wave  in  the 
immigration  current,  reaching  a  maximum  of  427,833 
in  the  year  1854,  a  number  which  was  not  exceeded  until 
1873.  After  1854  the  immigration  current  dwindled 
rapidly,  until  in  1862  it  amounted  to  only  72,183. 

During  this  entire  period,  up  to  the  time  of  the  great 
influx  from  Germany  and  Ireland,  immigration  had 
been  practically  unregulated  so  far  as  the  United  States 
government  was  concerned,  the  only  federal  law  bearing 
on  the  subject  being  the  ineffective  act  of  18 19.  Many 
of  the  individual  states,  however,  had  attempted  to  cope 
with  the  evils  of  the  situation  by  restrictive  or  protective 
measures.  New  York  took  the  lead  in  this  matter.  In 
this  state  there  were  two  sets  of  laws  bearing  on  the 
question.  The  first  of  these  had  to  do  with  the  support 
of  the  marine  hospital.  As  early  as  1820  New  York  had 
passed  a  law  (April  14,  1820,  Chapter  229)  levying  a 
tax  of  $1.50  each  for  the  captain  and  cabin  passengers, 
and  $1  each  for  steerage  passengers,  mates,  sailors,  and 
mariners,  payable  by  the  master  of  every  vessel  from  a 
foreign  port  arriving  at  a  New  York  port.  The  pro- 
ceeds were  to  be  used  for  the  benefit  of  the  marine  hospi- 
tal.    This  law  was  continued  and  reenacted,  with  slight 


i82o  TO  i860  75 

changes  in  the  amount  of  the  tax,  at  frequent  intervals 
during  the  next  twenty-live  years. ^  It  was  a  real  head 
tax,  and  may  have  had  a  slight  restrictive  influence 
upon  immigration. 

Much  more  important  than  this  set  of  laws,  however, 
was  another  group,  specifically  concerned  with  the  im- 
migration situation.  The  first "  of  these  was  the  law  of 
February  11,  1824,  which  required  the  master  of  every 
ship  coming  from  any  foreign  country,  or  from  any  other 
state  than  New  York,  to  report  to  the  mayor  in  writing, 
within  twenty-four  hours  after  landing,  the  name,  place 
of  birth,  last  legal  settlement,  age,  and  occupation  of  all 
passengers,  under  a  penalty  of  $75  for  each  person  not 
reported,  or  reported  falsely.  The  mayor  might  re- 
quire a  bond,  not  exceeding  $300,  for  each  passenger 
not  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  to  indemnify  the 
authorities  of  New  York  against  any  expense  incurred 
in  connection  with  such  passengers,  or  their  children 
born  after  landing,  for  the  space  of  two  years.  When- 
ever any  passenger,  being  a  citizen  of  the  United  States, 
was  deemed  likely  to  become  a  public  charge  to  the  city, 
the  master  of  the  ship  should  at  once  remove  him  at  his 
(the  master's)  expense  to  his  place  of  last  settlement, 
or  else  defray  all  expenses  incurred  by  the  city.  Non- 
citizens  entering  the  city  with  the  intention  of  residing 
there  must  within  twenty-four  hours  report  themselves 

»  Mar.  21,  1823  ;  Rev.  Stat.,  1827,  Ch.  XIV,  Title  IV,  Sec.  7  ;  Apr.  18,  1843; 
May  7,  1844. 

^  In  1818  a  book  was  published  under  the  title  Der  Deutsche  in  Nord- 
Amerika,  by  M.  von  Furstcnwiirther.  According  to  a  review  of  this  book 
which  appeared  in  the  North  American  Review  for  July,  1820,  Mr.  von  Fursten- 
wiirthcr  mentions  a  New  York  State  law  requiring  security  from  ship  captains 
against  their  immigrant  passengers  becoming  public  burdens.  This  refcroncc 
does,  in  fact,  occur  on  page  38  of  the  book  in  question,  but  the  present  author, 
after  a  careful  search,  has  not  succeeded  in  finding  aiiy_such  law  on  the  New 
York  Statutes  previous  to  1824. 


76  IMMIGRATION 

to  the  mayor,  giving  their  name,  birthplace,  etc.,  the 
time  and  place  of  landing,  the  name  of  the  ship  and  com- 
mander, under  penalty  of  $300. 

This  law  remained  in  force  for  twenty-three  years. 
On  May  5,  1847,  ^  niore  inclusive  immigration  law  was 
passed  of  which  the  most  important  provisions  were  as 
follows : 

Section  i.  The  shipmaster  shall  report  the  name, 
place  of  birth,  last  legal  residence,  age,  and  occupation 
of  every  person  or  passenger  arriving  in  the  ship,  not 
being  a  citizen  of  the  United  States.  The  report  shall 
further  specify  whether  any  of  the  passengers  reported 
are  lunatic,  idiot,  deaf  and  dumb,  blind  or  infirm,  and 
if  so,  whether  they  are  accompanied  by  relatives  likely 
to  be  able  to  support  them.  A  report  is  to  be  made  of 
those  who  have  died  on  the  voyage.  Penalty  for  viola- 
tion, $75. 

Section  2.  For  each  person  reported,  the  sum  of  one 
dollar  is  to  be  paid  by  the  master  within  three  days  after 
arrival. 

Section  3.  The  commissioners  of  emigration  shall 
go  on  board  of  arriving  vessels  and  examine  their  pas- 
sengers. If  any  of  the  defective  classes  mentioned  in 
Section  i  are  found,  not  members  of  emigrating  families, 
and  likely  to  become  a  public  charge,  a  bond  of  $300  for 
five  years  shall  be  required,  in  place  of  the  commutation 
fee  of  one  dollar. 

Section  4.  Commissioners  of  emigration  are  appointed, 
to  have  charge  of  the  business  of  immigration. 

Section  14.  The  commissioners  of  emigration  are 
made  recipients  and  custodians  of  the  marine  hospital 
funds. 

Section  16.   The  commissioners  are  given  power  to 


i82o  TO  i860  77 

erect  buildings  for  the  handling  of  the  immigration 
business. 

Section  18.   The  act  of  February  11, 1824,  is  repealed. 

Under  this  law  a  special  body  of  officials  took  charge 
of  the  handling  of  immigrants  for  New  York  State,  and 
a  more  systematic  and  effective  method  was  introduced. 

The  foregoing  law  and  the  corresponding  law  of 
Massachusetts  were  both  declared  unconstitutional  by 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  in  January, 
1849,^  o^  the  ground  that  the  power  to  levy  a  head  tax 
was  conferred  on  Congress  by  Article  i,  Section  8,  of 
the  Constitution,  being  included  in  the  "power  to  reg- 
ulate commerce  with  foreign  nations."  ^ 

New  York,  however,  at  once  (April  11,  1849)  passed 
another  law,  even  more  stringent  in  its  requirements 
than  the  foregoing  one,  but  designed  to  avoid  the  con- 
stitutional difficulties.  A  bond  of  $300  was  required 
for  all  alien  passengers,  which  might  be  commuted  for 
the  sum  of  $1.50.  If  any  alien  passengers  are  ''lunatic, 
idiot,  deaf,  dumb,  blind,  or  infirm  persons  not  members  of 
emigrating  families,"  or  likely  to  become  a  public  charge, 
or  have  been  paupers  in  any  other  country,  they  are  to 
be  bonded  in  the  sum  of  $500  for  ten  years,  in  addition 
to  the  commutation  money.  On  such  bonds  the  authori- 
ties were  empowered  to  collect  enough  money  to  defray 
the  expenses  incurred  in  connection  with  the  immigrants, 
not  exceeding  the  amount  of  the  bond. 

By  the  act  of  July  11,  185 1,  the  defective  classes  were 
added  to  by  the  inclusion  of  j^ersons  maimed,  or  above 
the  age  of  sLxty  years,  or  under  thirteen,  widows  having 

'  7  Howard,  283.     Passenger  Cases,  U.  S.  Supreme  Court,  Jan.  Term,  1849. 
'  Endicott,  William  C,  Jr.,  Commercial  Relations  0/  the  United  States,  18S5- 
1886,  pp.  1968  ff. 


78  IMMIGRATION 

families,  or  women  without  husbands  having  families,  or 
any  person  unable  to  take  care  of  himself  or  herself  with- 
out becoming  a  pubhc  charge.  The  bond  of  $500  for 
undesirables  was  retained,  but  the  time  limit  was  re- 
duced to  five  years. 

Practically  all  of  the  other  states  which  received  trans- 
Atlantic  vessels  had  laws  similar  to  the  bonding  law  of 
New  York,  for  their  protection  against  pauper  immigra- 
tion. The  Massachusetts  law  was  much  more  severe 
than  that  of  New  York,  and  was  believed  to  keep  many 
immigrants  away  from  that  state.  The  Massachusetts 
law  passed  April  20,  1837,  required  shipmasters  to  de- 
posit a  bond  of  $1000  for  ten  years  for  each  lunatic, 
idiot,  maimed,  aged,  or  infirm  immigrant  brought  in, 
and  for  those  incompetent  to  maintain  themselves,  or  who 
have  been  paupers  in  any  other  country.  For  each  other 
alien  passenger  the  shipmaster  was  to  pay  the  sum  of  $2. 

In  all  of  this  legislation  the  states  found  themselves  in 
the  dilemma  of  wishing  to  frame  laws  which  would  keep 
out  undesirable  immigrants,  and  yet  would  not  operate 
to  discourage  aHens  of  good  quality.  The  desire  for  an 
increase  of  population  by  immigration,  which  was  shared 
by  practically  all  the  states,  and  the  fear  of  diverting  the 
current  from  one  state  to  another,  led  to  a  greater  laxity 
in  the  attitude  of  each  state  than  would  probably  have 
existed  if  each  could  have  acted  altogether  independ- 
ently. This  made  the  state  regulation  of  immigration 
most  unsatisfactory. 

It  was  inevitable,  considering  the  immensity  and 
suddenness  of  the  immigration  movement  at  this  time, 
and  the  lack  of  experience  in  dealing  with  such  a  prob- 
lem on  the  part  of  the  American  people,  that  grievous 
evils   should   arise.     The   immigrants,   particularly   the 


i82o  TO  i860  79 

Irish,  were  a  destitute  and  helpless  lot,  and  fell  an  easy 
prey  to  the  machinations  of  the  host  of  exploiters  which 
at  once  sprang  up  to  take  advantage  of  the  newly  pre- 
sented opportunities.  Countless  devices  were  put  in 
practice  for  separating  the  immigrant  from  whatever 
valuable  goods  he  brought  with  him.  New  York,  in 
particular,  as  the  center  of  the  traffic,  swarmed  with  a 
host  of  runners,  agents,  and  soHcitors  of  every  kind,  who 
fleeced  the  newcomers  without  remorse  or  pity.  These 
runners  were  themselves  mostly  earlier  immigrants, 
who  could  more  readily  gain  the  confidence  of  the  aliens. 
The  handling  and  inspection  of  these  aliens  by  the  officials 
was  also  a  weighty  problem.  It  was  in  the  hope  of 
checking  the  operations  of  the  runners,  as  well  as  to  pro- 
vide suitable  arrangements  for  the  examination  of  ar- 
riving immigrants,  that  the  Board  of  Commissioners  of 
Emigration  of  New  York  State  was  created  by  the  act 
of  1847.  This  timely  action  undoubtedly  prevented  the 
various  evils  connected  with  this  immense  movement 
from  going  to  the  extremes  that  they  otherwise  would 
have  reached,  and  that  they  did  reach  in  certain  respects 
in  Canada.^ 

iThe  following  passage,  quoted  from  J.  T.  Maguire's  The  Irish  in  America, 
gives  a  vivid  picture  of  conditions  on  the  voyage,  and  of  the  circumstances  that 
attended  landing  in  Canada.  "  But  a  crowded  immigrant  sailing  ship  of  twenty 
years  since  [written  in  1868],  with  fever  on  board  !  —  the  crew  sullen  or  brutal 
from  very  desperation,  or  paralysed  with  terror  of  the  plague  —  the  miserable 
passengers  unable  to  help  themselves  or  afford  the  least  relief  to  each  other ; 
one-fourth,  or  one-third,  or  one-half  of  the  entire  number  in  difTerent  stages  of  the 
disease ;  many  dying,  some  dead ;  the  fatal  poison  intensified  by  the  indescrib- 
able foulness  of  the  air  breathed  and  rebreathed  by  the  gasping  sufferers  —  the 
wails  of  children,  the  raving  of  the  delirious,  the  cries  and  groans  of  those  in 
mortal  agony  1"  The  only  provision  for  the  reception  of  these  sufferers  at  Grosse 
Isle,  where  many  of  them  were  landed,  consisted  of  sheds  which  had  stood  there 
since  1832.  "These  sheds  were  rapidly  fdlcd  with  the  miserable  people,  the 
sick  and  the  dying,  and  round  their  walls  lay  groups  of  half-naked  men,  women 
and  children,  in  the  same  condition  —  sick  or  dying.     Hundreds  were  literally 


8o  IMMIGRATION 

In  1855  the  commissioners  leased  an  old  fort  at  the 
foot  of  Manhattan  Island,  known  as  Castle  Garden,  to 
serve  as  an  immigrant  station.  This  did  duty  for  many 
years  and  was  considered  one  of  the  most  interesting 
spots  in  the  metropolis.  It  also  proved  of  great  service 
in  restraining  the  operations  of  the  immigrant  runners.^ 
It  goes  without  saying  that  it  was  by  no  means  success- 
ful in  putting  a  permanent  stop  to  them. 

The  bonding  provision  of  the  New  York  State  law  had 
one  remarkable  and  unfortunate  result.  A  class  of 
brokers  sprang  up  who  took  the  responsibility  of  bond- 
ing the  immigrants  from  the  shipowners.  It  was  ob- 
viously to  their  advantage  to  keep  as  many  of  the  im- 
migrants as  possible  from  coming  upon  the  public  for 
support.  To  accomplish  this,  they  established  private 
hospitals  and  poorhouses  on  the  outskirts  of  New  York 
and  Brooklyn,  in  which  dependent  aliens  were  placed. 
The  effort  to  maintan  them  here  at  the  least  possible 
expense  resulted  in  extreme  neglect.  A  committee  of 
the  Board  of  Aldermen  of  New  York  City  was  ap- 
pointed to  look  into  this  matter,  in  the  year  1846.  They 
found  conditions  which  were  almost  unbelievable.  In 
one  apartment,  fifty  feet  square,  they  discovered  one 
hundred   sick   and   dying  immigrants   lying   on   straw. 

flung  on  the  beach,  left  amid  the  mud  and  stones,  to  crawl  on  the  dry  land  how 
they  could.  'I  have  seen,'  says  the  priest  who  was  chaplain  of  the  quarantine, 
...  'I  have  one  day  seen  thirty-seven  people  lying  on  the  beach,  crawling  on  the 
mud,  and  dying  like  fish  out  of  water.'  Many  of  these,  and  many  more  besides, 
gasped  out  their  last  breath  on  that  fatal  shore,  not  able  to  drag  themselves  from 
the  slime  in  which  they  lay."  As  many  as  150  bodies,  mostly  half  naked,  were 
piled  up  in  the  dead-house  at  a  time.  (pp.  135,^36.)  The  moral  evils  and 
dangers  were  said  to  be  even  worse  than  the  physical. 

•  I'"or  accounts  of  the  activities  at  Castle  Garden,  and  of  the  operations  of  the 
runners,  see  Kapp,  Friedrich,  Immigration  and  the  Commissioners  oj  Emigra- 
tion of  the  State  of  New  York;  Chambers'  Journal,  23:141,  "Emigrant  En- 
trappers";  Bagger,  L.,  "A  Day  in  Castle  Garden,"  Harper's  Monthly,  42 :  547. 


l820    TO    i860  81 

In  their  midst  were  the  bodies  of  two  others  who  had  died 
four  or  five  days  earher,  and  had  been  left  there.  The 
worst  kind  of  food  was  specially  purchased  for  the  con- 
sumption of  these  victims.  The  conditions  unearthed 
by  this  investigation  contributed  to  the  sentiment  which 
brought  about  the  passage  of  the  law  of  1847.^ 

The  chaotic  state  of  the  immigration  situation,  the 
inadequacy  of  state  control,  and  the  increasing  obvious- 
ness of  the  resulting  evils  led  to  a  growing  demand  for 
federal  action  on  the  matter.  This  feeling  found  ex- 
pression in  numerous  petitions  and  memorials  presented 
to  Congress  by  state  legislatures,  city  councils,  and 
private  citizens.  These  began  to  appear  about  1835, 
with  the  rise  of  the  Native  American  party.  With  the 
increased  immigration  of  the  latter  forties,  the  demand 
became  more  insistent.  The  immediate  and  crying  evil, 
which  attracted  the  greatest  attention,  lay  in  the  un- 
speakable shipping  conditions  which  still  existed."  In 
1847  Mr.  Rathbun  stated  on  the  floor  of  Congress  that 
emigrants  from  abroad  were  frequently  landed  in  the 
port  of  New  York  in  such  a  diseased  condition,  due  to 
overcrowding  on  the  ships  which  brought  them,  that 
they  were  unable  to  walk.  They  were  carried  in  carts 
direct  to  the  almshouse,  and  sometimes  died  on  the  way.^ 
In  the  same  year,  out  of  ninety  thousand  immigrants 
who  embarked  for  Canada  in  British  vessels,  fifteen 
thousand  died  on  the  way.  This  exceeded  even  the 
suffering  in  vessels  bound  for  the  United  States.'*  On 
the  whole,  conditions  seem  to  have  been  the  best  on  the 
German  and  American  vessels. 

'  MaRuirc,  op.  cit.,  pp.  185-187. 

'  Sec  Mr.  Maguirc's  description,  footnote,  p.  ^g. 

*  Congressional  Globe,  Feb.  i,  1847,  p.  304. 

*  Hale,  E.  E.,  Letters  on  Irish  Immigralion. 
G 


82  IMMIGRATION 

In  response  to  these  conditions,  and  to  the  growing 
demand  for  a  remedy,  Congress  on  February  22,  1847, 
passed  a  law,  superseding  that  of  18 19,  and  designed  to 
remedy  the  evils  of  overcrowding.  The  provisions 
about  victualing  the  ships  remained  the  same  as  before, 
but  the  new  law  provided  for  a  certain  allotment  of 
superficial,  or  square  feet  of,  deck  space  per  passenger, 
and  also  limited  the  number  of  passengers  in  proportion 
to  the  tonnage  of  the  ship.  This  law  was  not  satis- 
factory, however,  and  was  very  soon  superseded  by  the 
act  of  May  17,  1848,  which  remained  in  force  until 
1855.  In  1849  the  British  government  passed  a  law, 
designed  to  secure  the  same  ends  as  the  American  laws. 
It  was  under  the  operation  of  these  three  laws  that  the 
great  flood  of  Irish  immigration  crossed  the  Atlantic. 

The  American  statutes  required  that  the  deck  space, 
unoccupied  by  stores  or  goods,  except  passengers'  bag- 
gage, should  average  fourteen  square  feet  for  each  pas- 
senger, man,  woman,  or  child,  excepting  infants  not  one 
year  old.  If  the  space  between  decks  was  less  than  six 
feet,  there  must  be  sixteen  square  feet  per  passenger, 
and  if  less  than  five  feet,  twenty-two  square  feet  (a 
significant  commentary  on  the  ship  construction  of  the 
day).  There  were  to  be  not  more  than  two  tiers  of 
berths  on  any  deck,  and  the  berths  were  to  be  not  less 
than  six  feet  by  one  and  one  half  feet  in  dimensions. 
The  British  statute  set  a  limit  of  one  passenger  (exclusive 
of  cabin)  for  every  two  tons  registered  tonnage,  two  chil- 
dren under  fourteen  years  of  age  being  counted  as  one, 
and  children  under  one  year  not  being  counted. 

Up  to  this  time  it  had  been  customary  on  immigrant 
ships  to  require  passengers  to  provide  their  own  stores, 
but  on  account  of  the  lack  of  intelligence  and  foresight 


l820    TO    i860 


83 


on  the  part  of  the  passengers,  both  the  American  and 
British  statutes  required  ships  to  carry  a  certain  amount 
and  kind  of  provisions  for  each  passenger,  as  follows  : 


Water    .     .  . 
Ship  bread 

Wheat  flour  . 

Oatmeal     .  . 

Rice      .     .  . 

Salt  pork   .  . 
Peas  and  beans 

Potatoes    .  . 


American  Act 


60  gallons 
15  pounds 
10  pounds 
10  pounds 
10  pounds 
10  pounds 
10  pounds 
35  pounds 


Britisb  Act 


52^  gallons 
50  pounds 
20  pounds 
60  pounds 
40  pounds 
225  pounds 
Potatoes  may  be 
substituted    for 
meal  or  rice  at 
the  ratio  of  five 
pounds  for  one 


The  passengers  were  still  required  to  do  their  own  cook- 
ing, and  the  American  act  provided  for  the  building  of 
cooking  ranges  for  the  use  of  steerage  passengers,  in  pro- 
portion to  the  number  carried. 

Most  of  the  Irish  passengers  were  collected  at  Liver- 
pool, though  by  1847  there  were  also  many  direct  sail- 
ings from  Ireland.  They  were  mainly  booked  through 
passenger  brokers,  who  often  imposed  on  them,  but  ap- 
parently not  so  much  as  might  have  been  expected. 
There  was  a  medical  inspection  at  Liverpool,  and  emi- 
grants were  required  to  be  certified  against  contagious 
diseases.  The  average  length  of  the  passage  from  Liver- 
pool to  New  York  in  1849  was  about  thirty-five  days, 
and  from  London  about  forty-three  and  one  half  days. 
But  voyages  were  often  much  prolonged.  One  ship,  the 
Speed  (!),  in  1848  had  a  passage  of  twelve  weeks, 
with  great  ensuing  hardship.     The  British  act  provided 


84  IMMIGRATION 

that  if  ships  had  to  turn  back,  the  passengers  must  be 
transshipped  to  another  vessel,  and  in  the  meantime 
maintained  at  the  master's  expense.  This  often  re- 
sulted in  hardship,  instead  of  benefit,  as  ships  some- 
times kept  on  the  voyage  when  they  were  not  fitted  to 
sail.  In  1849  ^^^  1^5°  some  ships  turned  back  after 
having  been  out  seventy  days.  The  British  govern- 
ment tried  to  induce  steamers  to  take  steerage  pas- 
sengers by  allowing  them  to  provide  provisions  for  only 
forty  days,  while  sailing  vessels  had  to  provide  for 
seventy.  Very  few  immigrants,  nevertheless,  were 
carried  on  steam  vessels  during  these  years.  The  deaths 
on  these  voyages  were  mainly  due  to  ship  fever,  a  severe 
form  of  Irish  typhus.^ 

Though  the  German  immigrants  at  this  time  were 
at  least  as  numerous  as  the  Irish,  they  attracted  much 
less  attention.  This  was  partly  because  they  were  less 
poverty-stricken,  and  partly  because  they  mostly  moved 
on  to  the  west,  and  did  not  collect  in  the  cities  of  the 
Atlantic  seaboard.  The  Irish,  in  consequence  of  their 
native  character,  the  circumstances  which  led  to  their 
coming,  and  the  conditions  of  the  voyage,  were  in  a 
particularly  helpless  state  when  they  arrived.  They 
were  the  most  prominent  victims  of  the  runners,  and 
made  the  largest  showing  in  the  hospitals  and  alms- 
houses. In  spite  of  the  good  accompHshed  by  the 
state  and  federal  statutes,  an  extreme  amount  of  desti- 
tution and  suffering  persisted.  The  burden  of  foreign 
pauperism,  in  particular,  increased  tremendously.  In 
1850  more  than  half  the  paupers  wholly  or  partially 
supported  in  the  United    States  were  of  foreign  birth. 

1  Most  of  these   details  are  taken  from  E.  E.  Hale's   interesting  Letters  on 
Irish  Immigration,  written  in  1851-1852. 


l820    TO    i860  85 

In  the  North  Atlantic  coastal  states  the  proportion  was 
much  larger.^ 

These  considerations,  added  to  the  preponderance  of 
Roman  Catholics  among  the  Irish  immigrants,  led  to  a 
renewal  of  the  anti-immigration  agitation,  which  had 
been  so  vigorous  ten  years  earlier.  This  time  the  move- 
ment took  the  form  of  a  secret  organization,  started 
probably  in  New  York  City  in  1850.  This  society  grew 
rapidly.  Its  meetings  were  held  in  secret,  and  the  pur- 
pose and  even  the  name  of  the  organization  were  so 
much  of  a  mystery  at  first  that  the  rank  and  file  of  the 
members,  either  from  necessity  or  from  choice,  were  in 
the  habit  of  answering  all  questions  regarding  it  by  say- 
ing, "I  don't  know."  Hence  it  came  to  be  known  as  the 
"Know  Nothing"  party,  and  as  such  has  come  down  to 
history.^ 

The  organization  did  not  long  maintain  its  ultra- 
secret  character.  This  had  mostly  disappeared  by  1854, 
and  the  society  openly  indorsed  candidates,  and  put 
forward  candidates  of  its  own.  It  is  recorded  that  in 
1855  the  governors  and  legislatures  in  New  Hampshire, 
Massachusetts,  Rhode  Island,  Connecticut,  New  York, 
California,  and  Kentucky  were  Know  Nothings,  and 
that  they  had  secured  many  offices  in  other  states.  By 
1855  they  began  to  mature  plans  for  the  presidential 
election.  They  adopted  a  platform  calling  for  a  change 
in  the  existing  naturalization  laws,  for  the  repeal  of  the 
state  laws  allowing  unnaturalized  foreigners  to  vote,  and 

'  Congressional  Globe,  i^d  Cong.,  2d  Ses.,  p.  3gi. 

*Its  real  name  was  "The  Supreme  Order  of  the  Star  Spangled  Banner." 
There  appears  to  be  some  difTercncc  of  opinion  as  to  the  exact  ilate  of  organiza- 
tion. It  began  to  attract  public  attention  about  1852.  See  Hall,  op.  cit.,  p.  207  ; 
Jenks  and  Lauck,  The  Immigration  Problem,  p.  297 ;  Rept.  Imm.  Com.,  Federal 
Immigration  Legislation.  Abs.,  p.  8;  McMastcr,  J.  B..  "The  Riotous  Career 
of  the  Know  Nothings,"  Forum,  17  :  524. 


86  IMMIGRATION 

the  repeal  by  Congress  of  all  acts  making  land  grants 
to  unnaturalized  foreigners  and  allowing  them  to  vote 
in  the  territories.  In  1856  a  national  convention  was 
held,  and  Millard  Fillmore  was  nominated  for  president. 
The  principles  of  the  platform  adopted  were  that  Ameri- 
cans must  rule  America,  that  native-born  citizens  should 
be  selected  for  all  state,  federal,  and  municipal  govern- 
ment employment  in  preference  to  all  others,  that  the 
naturalization  law  should  be  changed  so  as  to  require 
twenty-one  years'  residence,  and  that  a  law  should  be 
passed  excluding  from  the  United  States  all  paupers  or 
persons  convicted  of  crime.  This  party  had  its  greatest 
strength  in  the  thirty-fourth  Congress,  1854-1856,  and  in 
the  discussions  of  the  period  many  severe  charges  were 
made  against  the  immigrants. 

But  the  Know  Nothings  were  in  the  minority  and 
consequently  had  little  real  influence  on  legislation. 
The  immigration  laws  proposed  by  them  were,  as  a  rule, 
confined  to  the  exclusion  of  foreign  paupers  and  crim- 
inals, and  none  of  these  was  passed.^  The  diversion  of 
public  interest  from  immigration  affairs  to  the  great 
questions  of  slavery,  and  the  events  preliminary  to  the 
Civil  War,  coupled  with  the  decline  in  the  volume  of 
immigration  after  1854,  led  to  the  natural  decline  and 
final  break-up  of  the  Know  Nothing  party. 

The  agitation  of  the  period,  however,  particularly  in 
regard  to  steerage  conditions,  had  its  effect  on  Congress, 
and  in  1853  a  select  committee  of  the  Senate  was  ap- 
pointed to  investigate  the  conditions  of  steerage  immi- 
gration and,  in  particular,  "  the  causes  and  the  extent  of 
the  sickness  and  mortality  prevailing  on  board  the 
emigrant  ships  on  the  voyage  to  this  country,"  and  to 

1  Rept.  Imm.  Com.,  Federal  Immigration  Legislation,  Abs.,  pp.  8-10. 


l820    TO    i860  87 

determine  what  legislation,  if  any,  was  necessary  to 
secure  better  conditions.  This  committee  reported  on 
August  2,  1854,  and  on  March  3,  1855,  a  bill  was  passed 
which,  with  slight  modifications,  governed  the  carriage 
of  immigrants  up  to  1882.  The  design  of  this  act  was  to 
improve  steerage  conditions,  and  "theoretically  the  law 
of  1855  provided  for  an  increased  air  space,  better  ven- 
tilation, and  improved  accommodations  in  the  way  of 
berths,  cooking  facilities,  the  serving  of  food,  free  open 
deck  space,  and  so  forth.  Although  the  evil  of  over- 
crowding, which  had  been  attended  with  such  disastrous 
results  in  former  years,  appears  to  have  been  especially 
aimed  at  by  the  makers  of  the  law,  the  wording  of  the 
act  was,  unfortunately,  such  that  the  provisions  relating 
to  the  number  of  passengers  to  be  carried  were  inopera- 
tive, and  there  was  practically  no  legal  restraint  in  this 
regard,  as  far  as  the  United  States  law  was  concerned, 
between  1855  and  1882."  ^ 

Practically  the  only  amendment  to  the  steerage  law 
from  1855  to  1882  was  an  act  of  i860,  designed  to  secure 
much-needed  protection  for  female  passengers  from  im- 
moral conduct  on  the  part  of  members  of  the  crew.  A 
fine  of  $1000  was  imposed  on  any  person  employed  on 
any  ship  of  the  United  States  who  was  found  guilty  of 
such  conduct,  and  members  of  the  crew  were  forbidden 
to  visit  parts  of  the  ship  assigned  to  immigrants,  except 
under  the  direction  or  with  the  permission  of  the  com- 
manding officer. 

It  will  be  observed  that,  while  the  various  state  laws 
had  a  slightly  restrictive  effect,  all  of  the  federal  acts  of 
this  period,  designed  as  they  were  to  secure  better  ac- 
commodations on  the  voyage,  served  as  an  encourage- 

'  Rept.  Imm.  Com.,  Steerage  Legislation,  Abs.,  p.  ii. 


88  IMMIGRATION 

ment,  rather  than  a  deterrent,  to  immigration.  And, 
on  the  whole,  in  spite  of  the  violent  anti-immigrant 
agitation  of  the  nativistic  and  Know  Nothing  move- 
ments and  the  dread  of  foreign  paupers  and  criminals, 
the  preponderance  of  public  opinion  in  the  United  States 
was  probably  favorable  to  the  immigrant  as  such.  It 
must  be  remembered  that  during  this  entire  period  the 
United  States  was  still  distinctly  a  new  country.  There 
was  an  abundance  of  unoccupied  land  which  might  be 
secured  on  easy  terms.  There  was  a  large  westward 
movement  of  population  from  the  Atlantic  seaboard, 
and  the  growing  manufactures  and  internal  improve- 
ments created  a  large  demand  for  labor.  It  was,  as  a 
whole,  a  decidedly  thinly  settled  country.  All  of  these 
things  combined  to  give  the  immigrant  every  advan- 
tage in  the  mind  of  the  native  citizen. 

Reviewing  the  third  period,  we  see  that  it  was  a  period 
of  rapidly  increasing  immigration,  responding  to  the 
expanding  industry  and  exceptionally  favorable  agri- 
cultural situation  in  this  country.  The  movement  cul- 
minated in  the  enormous  immigration  of  the  late  forties 
and  early  fifties.  These  were  mainly  Germans,  who 
left  their  home  primarily  for  political  reasons,  and  took 
up  farm  lands  in  the  west,  and  Irish,  who  emigrated  be- 
cause of  economic  disaster,  and  tended  to  linger  in  the 
eastern  cities,  or  to  go  out  into  the  construction  camps. 
Both  of  these  races  were  closely  allied  to  the  American 
people,  and  easily  assimilated.  At  the  beginning  of  the 
period,  the  attitude  of  the  American  people  was  almost 
wholly  one  of  welcome,  but  with  the  increase  of  the  cur- 
rent, bringing  as  it  did  enormous  numbers  of  destitute 
and  helpless  aliens,  there  arose  a  distinct  feeling  of  op- 
position  to   unregulated  immigration,   based  primarily 


l820   TO    i860  89 

upon  the  dislike  of  foreign  paupers  and  criminals,  and 
aided  by  the  undeniable  practice  of  foreign  countries  of 
emptying  their  poorhouses,  and  even  their  jails,  upon  our 
shores.  This  feeling  later  came  to  be  intensified  by  a 
strong  antipathy  to  Roman  Catholics  and  the  restriction 
of  immigration  was  made  a  party  policy.  Nevertheless, 
the  opposition  to  immigration  did  not,  during  this  period, 
attain  sufficient  strength  to  secure  any  important  legis- 
lation. Many  of  the  states  had  laws  designed  to  in- 
demnify the  communities  against  expense  on  account 
of  foreign  paupers,  which  may  have  had  a  slight  restric- 
tive effect.  But  such  federal  legislation  as  there  was, 
was  directed  to  the  improvement  of  the  conditions  of 
the  voyage,  and  hence  had  an  encouraging  rather  than 
a  restrictive  tendency.  With  the  approach  of  the  Civil 
War  immigration  fell  off,  and  public  attention  was 
diverted  to  other  matters. 


CHAPTER  V 

i860  TO  1882 

The  disturbances  connected  with  the  Civil  War,  fol- 
lowing the  industrial  depression  of  1857,  naturally  pro- 
duced a  diminution  in  the  immigration  current,  which 
in  the  year  1862  fell  to  72,183,  the  lowest  point  it  had 
reached  for  more  than  twenty  years,  and  one  which  has 
never  been  reached  since.  This  condition,  which  tended 
to  allay  the  excessive  fear  of  immigration  which  had 
marked  the  previous  decade,  was  augmented  by  certain 
other  factors.  Foremost  among  these  was  the  enormous 
internal  migration  of  people  from  the  east  to  the  middle 
and  farther  west,  encouraged  by  the  Uberal  homestead 
act  of  1862.  This  movement,  in  connection  with  the 
loss  of  life  occasioned  by  the  war,  seemed  to  leave  great 
gaps  in  the  population  of  the  eastern  states,  and  put  the 
foreigners  who  came  to  fill  them  in  much  better  favor. 
Many  of  the  immigrants  themselves  also  moved  on  to 
the  west  and  took  up  new  land,  where  they  crowded 
nobody  and  rendered  a  real  service  in  the  building  up  of 
the  country. 

These  facts  explain  what  would  otherwise  seem  an 

extraordinary    circumstance  —  namely,    that    the    first 

federal  law  passed  with  the  avowed  intent  of  regulating 

the  volume  of  immigration  was  an  act  to  encourage 

immigration.     This  was  the  act  of  July  4,  1864,  which 

provided  for  the  appointment  by  the    President    of  a 

Commissioner  of  Immigration,  to  be  under  the  direction 

90 


i86o  TO  1882  91 

of  the  Department  of  State,  and  further  pro\ided  that 
all  contracts  made  in  foreign  countries  by  immigrants 
pledging  the  wages  of  their  labor  for  a  term  not  exceed- 
ing twelve  months  should  be  valid.  An  immigration 
office  was  to  be  established  in  New  York  City,  in  charge 
of  a  Superintendent  of  Immigration,  to  look  after  the 
transporting  of  immigrants  to  their  final  destination, 
and  protecting  them  from  imposition  and  fraud.  Several 
companies,  in  pursuance  of  this  act,  were  formed  for  the 
purpose  of  dealing  in  contract  labor.  But  protests 
against  the  character  of  immigrants  continued  strong, 
and  the  law  was  repealed  in  1868.  The  feeling  of  opposi- 
tion to  contract  labor  in  general  was  also  beginning  to 
assert  itself  at  this  time,  and  continued  to  grow,  so  that 
the  next  federal  legislation  touching  on  contract  labor 
was  of  a  wholly  different  character. 

This  period  witnessed  another  important  change  in 
the  immigration  situation  —  the  transition  from  the 
saihng  vessel  to  the  steamship  as  the  prevailing  type  of 
immigrant  carrier.  "Writers  on  the  history  of  sail  and 
steam  navigation  agree  that  steamships  played  no  part 
prior  to  1850  in  the  transportation  of  other  than  cabin 
passengers.  In  that  year  the  Inman  Line  of  steamships, 
then  recently  established,  began  to  compete  with  sailing 
vessels  by  providing  third-class,  or  steerage,  accommoda- 
tion. .  .  .  Once  established  in  the  emigrant  carrying 
trade,  steamships  quickly  monopolized  the  greater  part 
of  the  business."  ^  In  1856,  of  the  passengers  landed  at 
Castle  Garden,  New  York,  96.4  per  cent  were  carried 
on  sailing  vessels,  and  3.6  per  cent  on  steamships.  In 
1873  the  proportions  were  almost  exactly  reversed  — 
3.2  per  cent  on  sailing  vessels,  and  q6.8  per  cent  on 

'  Repl.  Imm.  Com.,  Steer.  Legis.,  Abs.,  pp.  12,  13. 


92  IMMIGRATION 

steamships.  The  turn  of  the  balance  came  between 
the  years  1864  and  1865 ;  in  the  first  of  these  years  the 
sailing  vessels  carried  55.7  per  cent  of  the  passengers, 
and  in  the  second,  41.7  per  cent.  "No  consistent  data 
are  available  to  show  the  relative  number  of  passengers 
carried  on  sailing  vessels  and  steamships  after  1873,  but 
it  was  not  long  until  steamships  had  practically  a  com- 
plete monopoly  of  the  business."  ^  This  change  did 
more  to  alleviate  the  conditions  of  the  steerage  than 
anything  which  had  transpired  previously. 

The  change  from  sail  to  steam  was  accompanied  by 
the  loss  of  the  primary  position  in  the  immigrant  carrying 
field  by  the  United  States.  In  the  rivalry  for  the  steam- 
ship business  she  was  quickly  outstripped  by  England. 
Chance  played  a  part  in  this  outcome  through  the  loss  of 
two  of  the  largest  ships  of  the  Collins  Line,  but  the  con- 
scious policy  of  the  United  States  contributed  to  the 
result.  The  available  capital  of  the  country  was  di- 
verted to  manufactures  and  railroad  building  by  the 
artificial  stimulus  given  to  these  industries  —  by  the 
tariff  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  land  grants  on  the  other. 

With  the  return  of  prosperity  after  the  war,  the 
volume  of  immigration  began  to  increase  again,  and  in 
1873  culminated  in  the  record  figure  of  459,803.  The 
industrial  depression  of  that  year  cut  down  the  influx, 
and  the  next  record  was  not  reached  until  1882,  the  year 
that  inaugurates  the  modern  period.  During  the  entire 
period  under  discussion  the  two  main  elements  in  the 
immigration  stream  were  the  Irish  and  the  Germans. 
The  climax  of  the  immigration  from  the  United  Kingdom 
(mostly  Irish)  had  been  reached  in  1851,  with  a  total  of 
272,240,  a  figure  which  has  never   been  equaled  since. 

'  Rept.  Imm.  Com.,  Steer  Legis.,  Abs.,  p.  13. 


i86o  TO  1882  93 

The  immigration  from  Germany  in  the  year  1854  had 
reached  215,009,  a  number  which  has  been  exceeded 
only  once  since  then  (in  1882).  In  1854,  87.7  per  cent 
of  the  entire  immigration  came  from  these  two  sources. 
In  1873,  68.8  per  cent  still  showed  the  same  origin. 

During  the  closing  years  of  this  period  people  of 
Scandinavian  origin  occupied  a  noteworthy  place  in  the 
immigration  field.  Small  parties  of  Norwegians,  Danes, 
and  Swedes  had  appeared  early  in  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury, and  had  been  followed  by  others  from  time  to  time. 
These  early  immigrants  had  formed  settlements,  for  the 
most  part  agricultural,  in  various  parts  of  the  country, 
particularly  in  the  middle  west  and  northwest.  But 
they  were  an  inconsiderable  part  of  the  total  immigra- 
tion until  after  the  Civil  War.  In  1873  they  amounted 
to  7.7  per  cent  of  the  total  immigration,  and  in  1882  to 
13.4  per  cent.  The  underlying  causes  which  predisposed 
the  natives  of  the  Scandinavian  countries  to  emigration 
were  found  in  the  rugged  and  inhospitable  character  of 
the  soil,  and  the  severe  and  uncertain  climate.  Only 
a  small  part  of  the  total  land  area  was  available  for  cul- 
tivation, and  there  was  little  room  for  an  expanding 
population.  Thus  the  fundamental  causes  of  emigra- 
tion were  economic.  Religious  differences  and  the 
demands  of  military  service  played  minor  parts.  Polit- 
ical oppression  entered  in  somewhat  in  the  case  of  the 
Danes. 

The  more  immediate  causes  are  found  in  a  period  of 
financial  depression  between  1866  and  1870,  the  Dano- 
Prussian  War  of  1864,  the  activities  of  steamship  agents, 
and  more  particularly  the  letters  and  visits  from  the 
earlier  emigrants  and  adventurers,  who  told  in  person  of 
the  advantages  and   opportunities  of  life  in   America. 


94  IMMIGRATION 

These,  as  always,  had  a  profound  effect  in  stirring  up 
enthusiasm  for  emigration. 

The  Scandinavian  emigrants  came  mainly  from  rural 
regions  and  rural  occupations,  and  naturally  tended  to 
follow  out  the  same  bent  in  their  new  home,  resembling 
in  this  respect  their  kinsmen,  the  Germans.  Like 
them,  too,  they  were  easily  assimilated,  and  aroused  little 
opposition  on  the  part  of  the  Americans.^ 

It  was  in  connection  with  one  of  these  leading  groups 
of  immigrants  —  the  Irish  —  that  there  developed  one  of 
the  most  unfortunate,  and  at  the  same  time  interesting, 
series  of  events  that  have  occurred  in  connection  with 
the  immigrant  situation  during  our  entire  history  — 
one  that  had  much  to  do  with  arousing  antipathy 
toward  foreigners,  and  was  among  the  influences  that 
led  to  the  introduction  of  new  races  from  southeastern 
Europe.^  This  was  the  Molly  Maguire  disturbance  in  the 
anthracite  region  of  Pennsylvania. 

When  the  anthracite  coal  districts  of  Pennsylvania 
were  opened  up,  early  in  the  second  quarter  of  the  nine- 
teenth century,  the  social  conditions  in  the  new  settle- 
ments resembled  those  of  a  gold  mining  region,  in  the 
prevalence  of  lawlessness,  excitabihty,  and  turbulence. 
The  country  was  still  rough  and  thinly  settled,  and  be- 
tween the  mining  settlements  were  wide  stretches  of 
virgin  wilds  which  furnished  ideal  hiding  places  for  crim- 
inals and  refugees.  As  the  knowledge  of  mining  was 
largely  confined  to  foreigners,  they  came  to  occupy  a 
large  place  in  the  colliery  towns,  and  prominent  among 
them  were  the  Irish.     As  the  numbers  of  Irish  increased, 

•  See  Flom,  George  T.,  Nonvegian  Immigration  into  the  United  States,  and 
Chapters  on  Scandinavian  Immigration  to  Iowa;  also,  Nelson,  O.  N.,  History  of 
the  Scandinavians  and  Successful  Scandinavians  in  the  United  States . 

*  Commons,  J.  R.,  op.  cit.,  p.  129. 


i86o  TO  1882  95 

Irish  customs  and  ideas  came  to  practically  dominate 
many  places.  Other  foreign  races  represented  were  the 
Germans,  English,  Welsh,  Scotch,  and  Poles.  The  im- 
migrants from  Ireland  during  the  forties  and  j5ities  were 
not  all  worthy  representatives  of  the  race,  as  many  of  the 
more  turbulent  characters  were  practically  compelled  by 
the  landlords  to  join  the  general  exodus. 

As  early  as  1854  there  appeared  among  the  Irish  miners 
an  organization  known  as  the  MoUy  Maguires  —  a 
name  long  known  in  Ireland,  though  there  was  no  or- 
ganic connection  between  the  societies  in  the  old  and 
new  world.  Its  members  were  all  Irish  and  all  professed 
adherents  to  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  though  both  the 
church  and  the  better  elements  of  the  race  absolutely 
repudiated  them  and  their  acts.  Also,  practically  all 
the  Molly  Maguires  were  members  of  the  Ancient  Order 
of  Hibernians,  and  were  able  so  to  control  this  organiza- 
tion, legally  chartered  for  beneficial  purposes,  as  to  use 
it  as  a  cloak  for  their  nefarious  enterprises. 

The  power  of  the  Molly  Maguires  was  used  primarily 
to  further  the  ends  of  its  members  in  their  relations  with 
the  coUiery  owners  and  bosses ;  whenever  a  dispute 
arose  between  an  employee  and  a  boss,  the  latter  would 
be  served  with  a  notice,  frequently  decorated  with  rude 
pictures  of  coffins,  death's  heads,  and  the  like,  warning 
him  to  desist  in  his  course  or  to  leave  the  region.  If 
he  failed  to  obey,  he  was  almost  sure  soon  after  to  be 
waylaid  and  cruelly  beaten,  as  well  as  to  sufi'er  social 
ostracism.  The  perpetrators  of  the  deed  of  violence 
always  escaped,  and  thus  confidence  and  a  sense  of 
power  grew  in  the  organization. 

Soon  after  the  breaking  out  of  the  Civil  War,  con- 
ditions in  the  anthracite  region  became  such  as  to  im- 


96  IMMIGRATION 

prove  the  situation  of  the  miners  and  add  to  the  power  of 
the  Molly  Maguires.  They  became  more  and  more  in- 
solent in  their  demands,  and  ambitious  in  their  purposes. 
They  tried  to  gain  control  of  the  Miners'  Union,  and 
also,  with  a  measure  of  success,  sought  to  dominate  local 
poHtics,  with  their  eye  primarily  upon  the  township 
funds.  They  succeeded  in  making  the  lives  of  the  small 
mine  owners  such  a  burden  that  they  were  glad  to  sell 
out  to  the  large  combinations ;  thus  the  growth  of  large 
units  and  monopolies  was  fostered,  as  they  alone  could 
deal  with  the  Molly  Maguires  on  anything  hke  terms  of 
equality.  In  the  meantime,  the  methods  of  the  society 
increased  in  harshness  and  barbarity.  Arson  and  murder 
took  the  place  of  beating.  There  arose  a  rivalry  among 
the  MolUes  as  to  who  should  gain  the  greatest  reputa- 
tion for  deeds  of  reckless  savagery.  Murder  after  murder 
was  committed,  without  a  conviction.  The  victims 
were  often  men  of  the  highest  repute  and  usefulness  in 
their  respective  communities.  The  motives  for  the  out- 
rages increased  in  variety,  including  almost  any  injury, 
real  or  fancied,  or  any  personal  grudge  on  the  part  of  a 
member  of  the  society,  though  rarely  were  they  com- 
mitted for  robbery.  A  general  reign  of  terror  settled 
down  over  the  region,  and  vigilance  committees  were 
being  formed  for  purposes  of  reprisal. 

At  this  juncture,  in  1873,  M^-  Franklin  B.  Gowen, 
president  of  the  Philadelphia  and  Reading  Coal  and 
Iron  Company,  and  a  man  of  remarkable  character, 
enhsted  the  services  of  the  Pinkerton  Detective  Agency 
in  the  effort  to  stamp  out  the  organization.  A  young 
Irish  detective,  James  McParlan,  was  chosen  for  the 
dangerous  and  difficult  work.  He  was  instructed  to  go 
to  the  anthracite  region,  join  the  Molly  Maguires,  and 


i86o  TO  1882  97 

get  as  high  in  their  counsels  as  possible,  in  order  that  he 
might  reveal  their  secrets  to  the  authorities,  thereby 
preventing  outrages  when  possible  and  securing  con- 
victions where  he  could  not  prevent.  He  was  successful 
in  both  efforts.  After  many  months  of  work  and  peril 
he  finally  succeeded  in  securing  sufficient  evidence  to  ac- 
comphsh  the  conviction  of  a  large  number  of  the  members 
of  the  society,  breaking  down  completely  their  customary 
defense  of  an  aUbi.  In  all,  nineteen  Molly  Maguires 
were  hanged,  and  a  larger  number  imprisoned,  and  the 
power  of  the  organization  was  completely  shattered. 

This  series  of  events  is  a  remarkable  illustration  of  the 
way  in  which  customs,  and  habits  of  thought,  and  stand- 
ards of  conduct,  which  have  grown  up  by  a  natural 
process,  and  are  comprehensible  if  not  excusable  in  one 
land,  may  develop  most  alarming  and  disgraceful  features 
when  transplanted  to  a  new  environment.  The  essential 
strength  of  the  Molly  Maguires  lay  in  that  deep-seated 
hatred  of  an  informer  which  has  become  a  pronounced 
feature  of  the  Irish  character,  as  a  result  of  the  condi- 
tions to  which  they  have  been  subjected  at  home.  Thus, 
while  the  great  mass  of  the  Irish  settlers  of  the  anthra- 
cite region  abhorred  the  principles  and  deeds  of  the 
Molly  Maguires,  it  was  almost  impossible  to  secure  wit- 
nesses against  criminals  whose  identity  was  a  matter  of 
general  knowledge,  because  of  the  greater  repugnance 
to  the  character  of  an  informer.  The  traditional  hatred 
of  the  Irish  peasant  towards  the  landlord  was,  in  this 
country,  diverted  to  the  capitalist  class  in  a  wholly  un- 
reasonable but  efficient  manner. 

There  is  here,  also,  a  striking  demonstration  of  the 
capacity  of  a  relatively  small  group  of  turbulent  and 
unassimilated  foreigners  so  to  conduct  themselves  as  to 

H 


98  IMMIGRATION 

bring  an  undeserved  disrepute  upon  their  whole  group, 
and  foster  economic  and  social .  changes  in  society  which 
will  last  on  long  after  they  are  all  dead.^ 

While  the  Irish  and  Germans  were  dominating  the 
immigration  situation  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  the  Chinese 
were  occupying  the  center  of  the  stage  in  the  west. 
The  stream  of  Chinese  immigration  became  considerable 
at  about  the  same  time  that  the  great  increase  in  Euro- 
pean immigration  was  taking  place  on  the  other  side  of 
the  continent.  As  to  its  causes,  Mrs.  Mary  Roberts 
Coolidge  speaks  as  follows:  "The  first  effective  contact 
of  China  with  Western  nations  was  through  the  Opium 
War  of  1840,  which  resulted  in  an  increase  of  Chinese 
taxes,  a  general  disturbance  of  the  laboring  classes,  and 
the  penetration  of  some  shght  knowledge  of  European 
ideas  into  the  maritime  provinces.  Although  this  pre- 
pared the  way  for  the  emigration  to  the  West,  its  pre- 
cipitating cause  lay  in  'the  Golden  Romance'  that  had 
filled  the  world,"  —  that  is,  the  news  of  the  discovery 
of  gold  in  Cahfornia.  "Masters  of  foreign  vessels  af- 
forded every  facihty  to  emigration,  distributing  placards, 
maps,  and  pamphlets  with  highly  colored  accounts  of 
the  Golden  Hills.  .  .  .  But  behind  the  opportunity 
afforded  by  foreign  shipping  and  the  enticement  of  the 
discovery  of  gold  lay  deeper  causes  for  emigration  — 
the  poverty  and  ruin  in  which  the  inhabitants  of  South- 
eastern China  were  involved  by  the  great  Taiping  re- 
bellion which  began  in  the  summer  of  1850.  The  terrors 
of  war,  famine,  and  plundering  paralyzed  all  industry  and 
trade,  and  the  agricultural  classes  of  the  maritime  dis- 

1  Dewees,  F.  P.,  The  Molly  Maguires;  Rhodes,  J.  F.,  The  Molly  Maguire.s 
in  the  Anthracite  Region  of  Pennsylvania ;  Encyc.  Britannica,  article  "Molly 
Maguires." 


i86o  TO  1882  99 

tricts  especially  were  driven  to  Hong  Kong  and  Macao."  ^ 
By  the  end  of  1852  there  were  in  the  neighborhood  of 
25,cx)o  Chinese  on  the  Pacific  coast,  almost  all  of  them 
in  California. 

During  the  first  few  years  of  their  coming,  the  Chinese 
in  California  were  welcomed,  and  were  looked  upon  with 
favor.  They  were  industrious,  tractable,  and  inoffen- 
sive, and  were  willing  to  undertake  the  hard,  menial, 
and  disagreeable  forms  of  labor  —  partly  work  generally 
done  by  women  —  for  which  native  labor  was  not  avail- 
able under  existing  conditions.  Their  strange  manners 
and  customs  aroused  nothing  more  than  feeUngs  of 
curiosity.  But  gradually  a  feeling  of  opposition  to  them 
began  to  grow  up,  fomented  by  the  jealousy  and  race 
prejudice  of  the  miners.  Their  pecuhar  appearance 
and  strange  customs  began  to  make  them  the  objects  of 
suspicion  and  hatred.  This  feeling  was  intensified  by 
the  presence  of  a  large  element  of  southerners  in  Cali- 
fornia, who  classed  all  people  of  dark  skin  —  ''South 
Americans,  South  Europeans,  Kanakas,  Malays,  or 
Chinese"  —  together  as  colored.  Wild  stories  of  their 
character  and  habits  began  to  circulate,  and  with  each 
repetition  gained  strength  until  they  passed  current  as 
facts.  Among  these  were  the  assertions  that  the  Chinese 
were  practically  all  coolies,  or  labor  slaves,  that  they  were 
highly  immoral  and  vicious,  that  they  had  secret  tri- 
bunals which  inflicted  the  death  penalty  without  due 
process  of  law,  that  they  displaced  native  labor,  that 
they  could  not  be  Christianized,  that  they  had  no  in- 
tention of  remaining  as  permanent  residents  of  the  coun- 
try and  would  not  assimilate  with  the  natives,  that  they 
sent  money   out  of   the   country,   etc.     Most  of  these 

'  Coolidge,  Mary  R.,  Chinese  Immigration,  pp.  i6,  17. 


loo  IMMIGRATION 

charges  have  been  proven  to  be  either  wholly  false 
or  highly  exaggerated  by  recent  investigations,  and  were 
so  recognized  by  the  more  sober  and  fair  minded  stu- 
dents of  the  subject  at  the  time.  But  for  the  mass  of 
the  people  of  the  Pacific  coast,  and  for  many  in  other  parts 
of  the  country,  they  acquired  all  the  force  of  estabHshed 
dogma,  and  their  reiteration  passed  for  argument. 

The  Chinaman  became  the  scapegoat  for  all  the  ills 
that  afflicted  the  youthful  community,  from  whatever 
cause  they  really  arose,  and  in  time  an  anti-Chinese 
declaration  came  to  be  essential  for  the  success  of  any 
political  party  or  candidate.  In  such  a  state  of  public 
opinion  it  was  inevitable  that  their  lot  should  be  a  hard 
one.  They  were  robbed,  beaten,  murdered,  and  per- 
secuted in  a  variety  of  ways.  The  foreign  miners' 
license  tax  was  used  against  them  in  a  discriminating 
way  which  amounted  to  quasi  legal  plunder. 

In  1876  the  Cahfornia  State  Legislature  appointed  a 
committee  to  look  into  the  matter  of  Chinese  immigra- 
tion and  to  make  a  report.  This  was  done  in  1877,  and 
although  the  resulting  Address  and  Memorial  to  Con- 
gress have  had  a  large  influence  in  forming  public  opin- 
ion, and  in  shaping  legislation,  it  appears  that  it  was  in 
fact  a  purely  political  document,  and  that  everything 
was  arranged  in  advance  to  secure  a  report  which  should 
accomplish  a  certain  definite  result  —  the  satisfaction  of 
the  workingmen  of  the  state,  and  the  emphasizing  of  the 
necessity  of  federal  legislation.  The  need  of  this  was 
strongly  felt,  because  nearly  all  the  acts  passed  by  the 
coast  states  against  the  Chinese  had  been  declared 
either  unconstitutional  or  a  violation  of  treaty. 

In  response  to  the  repeated  demands  of  the  coast  states 
for  some  federal  action,  Congress  in  1876  appointed  a 


i86o  TO  1882  loi 

special  committee  on  Chinese  immigration,  which  made 
what  purported  to  be  a  thorough  investigation  of  the 
matter,  and  reported  thereupon.  The  report  was  wholly 
anti-Chinese.  But  this  was  inevitable,  as  it  is  apparent 
from  a  careful  study  of  the  testimony,  that  the  committee 
''came  to  its  task  committed  to  an  anti-Chinese  con- 
clusion and  that  it  had  no  judicial  character  whatever."  ^ 
The  evidence  was  willfully  distorted  to  produce  the 
desired  result. 

During  all  this  time  our  relations  with  China  had  been 
nominally  subject  to  a  series  of  treaties,  beginning  with 
that  of  1844,  and  including  the  famous  Burlingame 
treaty  of  1868.  While  the  earlier  agreements  did  not 
specifically  mention  the  rights  of  Chinese  to  reside  and 
trade  in  the  United  States,  they  were  in  fact  allowed  the 
same  privileges  in  these  respects  as  the  citizens  of  other 
nations.  By  the  treaty  of  1868,  however,  the  right  of 
voluntary  emigration  was  definitely  recognized  as  be- 
tween the  two  countries  on  the  basis  of  the  most  favored 
nation ;  but  the  Chinese  were  not  given  the  right  of 
naturalization.  From  this  privilege  they  were  definitely 
excluded  by  the  law  of  1870. 

It  became  evident  in  time  that  no  federal  legislation, 
satisfactory  to  the  pohticians  of  the  western  states,  could 
be  secured  under  the  existing  treaties.  There  arose  ac- 
cordingly a  demand  for  a  new  treaty  which  would  allow 
the  passage  of  laws  which  would  include  the  points 
desired  by  the  western  representatives,  practically  the 
exclusion  of  all  Chinese  not  belonging  to  the  merchant 
class.  In  response  to  this  demand  there  was  negotiated, 
after  much  conference  between  the  representatives  of 
the   two   nations,    a   new    treaty   in    1880.     The    most 

'  Coolidge,  M.  R.,  op.  cit.,  p.  107. 


I02  IMMIGRATION 

important  feature  of  this  new  instrument  was  the  right 
conferred  upon  the  government  of  the  United  States 
reasonably  to  regulate,  limit,  or  suspend,  but  not  to 
prohibit,  the  coming  or  residence  of  Chinese  laborers, 
whenever  it  deemed  that  the  interests  of  the  country 
demanded  such  action.  It  is  under  tliis  treaty  that  the 
various  Chinese  exclusion  acts  have  been  passed. 

The  first  of  these  acts  was  passed  in  1882,  and  pro- 
vided for  the  exclusion  of  Chinese  laborers  for  a  period  of 
ten  years.  This  was  not  to  apply  to  Chinese  who  were 
already  in  the  country,  or  who  should  enter  within 
ninety  days  after  the  passage  of  the  act.  Such  persons, 
who  desired  to  leave  the  country  and  return,  were  re- 
quired to  secure  a  certificate,  which  by  an  amenda- 
tory act  of  1884  was  made  the  sole  evidence  of  the 
right  of  a  Chinaman  to  return.  This  act  also  required 
a  certificate  of  the  exempt  classes,  to  be  issued  by 
the  Chinese  government  or  such  other  foreign  govern- 
ments as  they  might  be  subject  to.  The  deportation 
of  Chinese  unlawfully  in  the  country  was  also  provided 
for  by  these  acts. 

These  laws  were  in  many  respects  carelessly  drawn 
and  extremely  difficult  of  execution.  In  their  applica- 
tion they  entailed  great  expense  upon  the  United  States 
government,  and  worked  extreme  hardship  and  injustice 
to  many  Chinese.  They  were,  nevertheless,  effective 
as  regards  their  main  purpose,  for  the  volume  of  Chinese 
immigration  at  once  diminished  exceedingly.  The  strict- 
ness of  the  exclusion  was  increased  by  the  act  of  1888, 
which  refused  return  to  any  Chinese  laborer  unless  he 
had  a  lawful  wife,  child,  or  parent  in  the  United  States, 
or  owned  property  of  the  value  of  $1000  or  had  debts 
due  him  of  like  amount.     The  acts  in  force  were  extended 


i86o  TO  1882  103 

for  another  ten  years  by  the  act  of  1892,  and  again  in- 
definitely in  1902,  in  each  case  with  relatively  unimpor- 
tant modifications  in  detail. 

This  history  of  Chinese  immigration  is  not  a  matter  in 
which  the  citizen  of  the  United  States  can  take  much 
pride.  Race  prejudice,  bigotry,  ignorance,  and  poUtical 
ambition  have  played  a  prominent  part  in  the  agitation, 
and  have  been  instrumental  in  securing  much  of  the 
legislation.  The  attitude  and  conduct  of  the  United 
States  contrasts  unfavorably  with  the  position  of  China, 
which  has  been  one  of  patient,  courteous,  dignified, 
but  emphatic  protest,  and  willingness  to  cooperate  in 
securing  reasonable  and  beneficial  regidation.  The  boy- 
cott of  1905  has  been  her  principal  active  reprisal.  In 
spite  of  these  facts,  however,  it  would  be  rash  to  assert 
that  the  exclusion  of  Chinese  laborers,  by  whatever 
unfortunate  means  accomplished,  has  not  been  of  actual 
benefit  to  the  United  States.  The  assertion  that  the 
failure  of  the  Chinese  to  assimilate  has  been  due  more  to 
race  prejudice  and  exclusiveness  on  the  part  of  Americans 
than  to  unwillingness  to  be  Americanized  on  the  part  of 
the  Chinese,  does  not  do  away  with  the  fact  of  nonassimi- 
lation.  Until  Americans  are  willing  to  fraternize  on 
terms  of  social  equafity  with  members  of  any  race,  there 
is  great  danger  to  national  institutions  in  the  presence 
of  large  numbers  of  that  race  within  the  country.^  And 
when  we  reflect  how  enormous  Chinese  immigration 
might  easily  have  become  in  these  recent  years  of  quick 
and  easy  transportation,  and  excessive  activity  of  steam- 
ship agents,  contract  labor  agents,  and  others  of  their 

1  Professor  Taussig  justifies  the  exclusion  of  the  Chinese  on  the  ground  that  "a 
permanent  group  of  helots  is  not  a  healthy  constituent  in  a  democratic  society," 
Principles  of  Economics,  Vol.  II,  p.  140. 


I04  IMMIGRATION 

kind,  it  is  apparent  that  if  free  immigration  had  been 
allowed  to  these  people  of  a  widely  diverse  race,  we  might 
now  be  facing  a  Chinese  problem  in  this  country  second 
in  gravity  only  to  the  negro  question.^ 

By  the  end  of  this  period  the  conditions  of  Hfe  in 
America  had  so  changed  as  to  diminish  the  general  feeling 
of  complacency  toward  unlimited  immigration.  There 
was  in  particular  a  growing  opposition  to  contract  labor, 
and  an  increased  demand  for  federal  control  of  the  im- 
migration situation,  especially  as  all  state  laws  in  regard 
to  the  regulation  of  foreign  immigration  had  been  de- 
clared unconstitutional  in  1876.  There  was  a  convic- 
tion in  the  minds  of  some  thinkers  that  the  United  States 
no  longer  stood  in  need  of  an  increased  labor  force. 
These  views  were  clearly  expressed  in  an  article  by  Mr. 
A.  B.  Mason,  pubhshed  in  1874.  Some  of  his  state- 
ments have  a  new  ring.  "The  conditions  that  have 
hitherto  greatly  favored  immigration  no  longer  exist 
in  their  full  force."  "The  labour  market,  especially 
for  agricultural  labour,  is  overstocked."  "The  especial 
disadvantages  of  American  labour  more  than  counter- 
balance its  especial  advantages."  "EngHsh  labour  is 
in  the  main  as  well  off  as  American  labour." ^     It  is 


1  The  subject  of  Chinese  immigration  has  been  treated  thus  summarily  be- 
cause of  the  large  amount  of  reliable  material  which  is  easily  available  on  the 
question.  It  has  been  treated  as  a  whole,  rather  than  divided  among  the  differ- 
ent periods,  because  in  fact  it  has  been  a  distinct  phase  of  our  immigration  prob- 
lem; only  since  i goo  has  the  administration  of  the  Chinese  exclusion  law  been 
a  part  of  the  duties  of  the  Commissioner  General  of  Immigration.  Foremost 
among  the  books  on  the  topic  is  Mrs.  Coolidge's  work,  already  quoted.  \ 
defense  of  the  Chinese  written  in  the  heat  of  the  controversy  is  George  F.  Seward's 
Chinese  Immigration.  Interesting  chapters  on  the  topic  are  to  be  found  in 
Mayo-Smith,  and  Hall,  and  frequent  references  in  Jenks  and  Lauck,  and  Com- 
mons.    Cf.  also  Sparks,  E.  E.,  National  Development,  1877-1885,  pp.  229-250. 

2  Mason,  A.  B..  "An  American  View  of  Emigration,"  Fortnightly  Review, 
22:  273. 


i86o  TO  1882  105 

evident  that  the  time  was  at  hand  when  the  competition 
of  the  foreigner  in  the  American  labor  market  could 
no  longer  be  regarded  with  equanimity. 

This  sentiment  did  not  bear  fruit,  however,  until 
the  year  1882.  The  only  federal  legislation  bearing  on 
immigration  after  the  repeal  of  the  favorable  contract 
labor  law  in  1868  up  to  this  date,  was  the  act  of  March 
3,  1875,  prohibiting  the  importation  or  immigration 
into  the  United  States  of  women  for  the  purpose  of 
prostitution,  and  also  prohibiting  the  immigration  of 
criminals,  convicted  of  other  than  political  oflfenses. 
This  law,  while  couched  in  general  terms,  was  an  out- 
come of  the  anti-Chinese  agitation,  and  was  passed  with 
this  race  particularly  in  mind. 


CHAPTER  VI 

MODERN   PERIOD.      FEDERAL   LEGISLATION 

The  year  1882  stands  as  a  prominent  landmark  in 
the  history  of  immigration  into  the  United  States.  In 
that  year  the  total  immigration  reached  the  figure  of 
788,992,  a  point  which  had  never  been  reached  before 
and  was  not  reached  again  until  1903.  It  witnessed 
the  climax  of  the  movement  from  the  Scandinavian  coun- 
tries, and  from  Germany ;  only  once  since  then  has  the 
immigration  from  the  United  Kingdom  reached  the 
amount  of  that  year.  It  coincides  almost  exactly  with 
the  appearance  of  the  streams  of  immigration  from 
Italy,  Austria-Hungary,  and  Russia  of  sufficient  volume 
to  command  attention.  In  that  year  the  first  Chinese 
exclusion  act  and  the  first  inclusive  federal  immigration 
law  were  passed.  Consequently  the  year  1882  stands 
as  a  natural  and  logical  beginning  of  the  modern  period 
of  immigration,  a  period  during  which  the  immigration 
movement  has  been  marked  by  characteristics  so  pecul- 
iarly new  and  definite  as  to  distinguish  it  sharply  from 
anything  which  went  before.  The  discussion  of  immi- 
gration during  this  period  is  in  all  its  essentials  the  dis- 
cussion of  a  present-day  problem. 

One  of  the  most  distinctive  and  obvious  characteristics 
of  this  period  has  been  the  growth  of  a  comphcated  body 
of  federal  immigration  laws.  These  have  put  the  whole 
immigration  question  on  a  new  basis,  and  deserve  to  be 
considered  in  some  detail.     In  the  following  review,  only 

106 


MODERN   PERIOD.     FEDERAL   LEGISLATION    107 

those  sections  of  the  successive  laws  which  contain  matter 
that  is  of  general  importance  have  been  included.  All 
merely  technical  details  and  many  of  the  provisions  re- 
garding penalties  and  the  practical  administration  of  the 
laws  have  been  omitted. 

Act  of  August  3,  1882.  Section  i.  A  duty  (com- 
monly known  as  a  head  tax)  of  fifty  cents  is  to  be  levied 
for  every  passenger  not  a  citizen  of  the  United  States, 
who  comes  from  any  foreign  port  to  any  port  of  the 
United  States  by  steam  or  sail  vessel.  This  duty  is  to 
be  paid  to  the  collector  of  customs  of  the  port,  by  the 
master,  owner,  agent,  or  consignee  of  the  vessel  within 
twenty-four  hours  after  entry.  The  money  so  collected 
is  to  constitute  an  Immigrant  Fund,  to  be  used  to  defray 
the  expenses  of  regulating  immigration,  for  the  care  of 
immigrants,  and  the  relief  of  such  as  are  in  distress,  and 
in  general  for  carrying  out  the  provisions  of  the  act. 
This  duty  is  to  constitute  a  lien  upon  the  vessel  until 
paid. 

Section  2.  The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  is  charged 
with  the  execution  of  this  act,  and  with  supervision 
over  the  business  of  immigration  into  the  United  States. 
He  is  authorized  to  make  contracts  with  state  boards 
and  commissions,  which  are  still  charged  with  the  duty 
of  examining  ships  arriving  at  ports  of  the  state.  Any 
convict,  lunatic,  idiot,  or  any  person  unable  to  take  care 
of  himself  or  herself  without  becoming  a  public  charge 
shall  not  be  permitted  to  land. 

Section  3.  The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  is  em- 
powered to  make  provisions  to  protect  immigrants  from 
fraud  and  loss,  and  to  carry  out  the  law. 

Section  4.  All  foreign  con\'icts,  except  those  con- 
victed  of  political   offenses,   shall   be   returned    to   the 


io8  IMMIGRATION 

nations  to  which  they  belong  and  from  which  they  came. 
The  expense  of  returning  all  persons  not  permitted  to 
land  is  to  be  borne  by  the  owners  of  the  vessel  in  which 
they  came. 

Section  5.   This  act  shall  take  effect  immediately. 

The  sahent  points  of  this  law  are  the  imposition  of  a 
federal  head  tax,  the  beginning  of  a  list  of  excluded 
classes,  the  return  of  excluded  aliens,  at  the  expense  of 
the  shipowners,  and  the  assignment  of  the  immigration 
business  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  the  actual 
work  of  examination,  however,  still  being  done  by  the 
state  boards. 

The  next  act  bearing  on  immigration  was  Section  22 
of  the  act  of  June  26,  1884,  ^-nd  was  designed  to  correct 
a  discrimination  in  favor  of  land  transportation  con- 
tained in  Section  i  of  the  act  of  1882.  It  provided 
that  until  the  provisions  of  this  section  should  be  made 
applicable  to  passengers  coming  into  the  United  States 
by  land  carriage,  they  should  not  apply  to  passengers 
coming  in  vessels  trading  exclusively  between  ports  of 
the  United  States  and  Canada  and  Mexico. 

Act  of  February  26,  1885.  Section  i.  It  shall  be 
"unlawful  for  any  person,  company,  partnership,  or 
corporation,  in  any  manner  whatsoever,  to  prepay  the 
transportation,  or  in  any  way  to  assist  or  encourage  the 
importation  or  migration  of  any  alien  or  aliens,  any 
foreigner  or  foreigners,  into  the  United  States,  its  Terri- 
tories, or  the  District  of  Columbia,  under  contract  or 
agreement,  parol  or  special,  express  or  implied,  made 
previously  to  the  importation  or  migration  of  such  alien 
or  aliens,  foreigner  or  foreigners,  to  perform  labor  or 
service  of  any  kind  in  the  United  States,  its  Territories, 
or  the  District  of  Columbia." 


MODERN   PERIOD.    FEDERAL   LEGISLATION    109 

Section  2.  All  contracts  of  the  above  nature  shall  be 
void. 

Section  3.  Provides  for  a  fine  of  $1000  for  every 
violation  of  the  above  provision,  payable  for  each  alien 
being  party  to  such  a  contract. 

Section  4.  The  master  of  any  vessel  who  knowingly 
brings  in  contract  laborers  shall  be  fined  not  more  than 
$500,  and  may  also  be  imprisoned  for  not  more  than  six 
months. 

Section  5.  The  following  classes  shall  be  excepted 
from  the  provisions  of  the  above  sections :  secretaries, 
servants,  and  domestics  of  foreigners  temporarily  residing 
in  the  United  States ;  skilled  workmen  for  any  industry 
not  now  established  in  the  United  States,  provided  that 
such  labor  cannot  be  otherwise  obtained  ;  actors,  artists, 
lecturers  or  singers,  or  persons  employed  strictly  as 
personal  or  domestic  servants.  This  act  shall  not  pre- 
vent any  individual  from  assisting  any  member  of  his 
family  or  any  relative  or  personal  friend  to  come  in  for 
the  purpose  of  settlement. 

On  February  23,  1887,  there  was  an  amendatory  act 
passed  to  the  above  act,  specifically  intrusting  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury  with  the  carrying  out  of  its 
provisions,  and  providing  for  the  return  of  contract 
laborers  in  a  manner  similar  to  other  excluded  classes. 

On  October  19,  1888,  the  law  of  1887  was  amended, 
providing  that  a  person  who  has  entered  the  country 
contrary  to  the  contract  labor  law,  may  be  deported 
within  one  year  at  the  expense  of  the  owner  of  the  im- 
porting vessel,  or  if  he  came  by  land,  of  the  person  con- 
tracting for  his  services. 

The  section  containing  the  provision  for  excluding 
contract  laborers  has  been  qucUed  verbatim  to  cmj-ihasize 


no  IMMIGRATION 

its  extremely  strict  and  inclusive  wording.  It  would  be 
very  difficult  for  any  person  who  had  the  slightest  idea 
of  what  he  was  going  to  do  in  this  country  to  prove  him- 
self outside  the  letter  of  that  law.  The  softening  clauses 
of  the  law  are  put  in  the  form  of  exceptions,  thus  throwing 
the  burden  of  the  proof  upon  the  immigrant.  The  last 
amendment  quoted  is  of  especial  interest  as  introducing 
the  principle  of  deportation  after  landing.^ 

Act  of  March  3,  1891.  Section  i.  The  following  ad- 
ditions are  made  to  the  excluded  classes :  paupers  or 
persons  likely  to  become  a  public  charge,  persons  suffer- 
ing from  a  loathsome  or  a  contagious  disease,  polyga- 
mists,  and  any  person  whose  ticket  or  passage  is  paid 
for  with  the  money  of  another,  or  who  is  assisted  by 
others  to  come,  unless  it  is  specifically  proved  that  he 
does  not  belong  to  one  of  the  excluded  classes,  including 
contract  laborers. 

Section  3.  Assisting  or  encouraging  immigration  by 
promise  of  employment  through  advertising  in  a  foreign 
country  is  declared  illegal,  with  the  exception  of  the  ad- 
vertisements of  state  agencies. 

1  "Deportation"  must  be  carefully  distinguished  from  "exclusion,"  "debar- 
ment," or  "returning."  When  either  of  the  last  three  terms  is  used,  it  im- 
plies that  the  immigrant  is  never  allowed  to  land  in  the  country.  The  first  term 
is  applicable  when  the  immigrant  has  landed  in  this  countr>',  and  some  time  after, 
in  accordance  with  some  provision  of  the  law,  is  sent  back  to  the  country  from 
which  he  came. 

This  is  the  first  provision  for  deportation  in  the  federal  laws,  except  the  tem- 
porar>'  provision  of  the  Alien  Bill.  As  early  as  1837  the  common  council  of 
New  York  City  passed  a  resolution,  authorizing  the  commissioners  of  the  alms- 
house to  send  back  to  their  native  country  such  alien  paupers  as  were,  or  were 
likely  to  become,  paupers  at  the  establishment  at  Bellevue  or  elsewhere, 
provided  the  pauper  in  question  gave  his  consent.  (Executive  (House)  Docu- 
munls,  2sth  Cong.,  2d  Ses,,  370,  pp.  16-18.)  It  is  amusing  to  note  that  at  that  pe- 
riod our  right  to  send  back  alien  paupers,  —  even  though  they  had  been  ofBcially 
transported  to  this  country,  —  after  they  had  once  been  admitted,  was  seriously 
questioned  by  foreign  powers. 


MODERN  PERIOD.     FEDERAL   LEGISLATION    m 

Section  4.  Encouragement  or  solicitation  of  immi- 
gration by  steamship  or  transportation  companies,  ex- 
cept by  means  of  regular  advertisements  giving  an 
account  of  sailings,  facilities,  and  terms  is  declared 
illegal. 

Section  5.  The  following  are  added  to  the  excepted 
classes  under  the  contract  labor  law :  ministers  of  any 
rehgious  denomination,  persons  belonging  to  any  rec- 
ognized profession,  professors  of  colleges  and  seminaries. 
Relatives  and  friends  of  persons  in  this  country  are  not 
hereafter  to  be  excepted. 

Section  6.  Persons  bringing  in  aliens  not  legally  en- 
titled to  enter  are  made  Hable  to  a  fine  of  not  more  than 
$1000,  or  imprisonment  for  not  more  than  one  year,  or 
both. 

Section  7.  The  office  of  Superintendent  of  Immi- 
gration is  created,  to  be  under  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury. 

Section  8.  Shipmasters  shall  file  with  the  proper 
officers  a  manifest,  giving  the  name,  nationality,  last 
residence,  and  destination  of  each  alien  passenger.  In- 
spection is  to  be  made  by  inspection  officers  before  land- 
ing, or  a  temporary  landing  may  be  made  at  a  specified 
place.  The  medical  examination  is  to  be  made  by  sur- 
geons of  the  Marine  Hospital  Service.  During  the 
temporary  landing,  aliens  are  to  be  properly  fed  and 
cared  for.  Right  of  appeal  granted.  Landing,  or  allow- 
ing to  land,  alien  passengers  at  any  other  time  or  place 
than  that  specified  by  the  inspectors  is  made  an  offense 
punishable  by  a  (maximum)  fine  of  $1000,  or  imprison- 
ment for  one  year,  or  both.  The  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 
ury is  empowered  to  prescribe  rules  for  the  inspection  of 
immigrants  along    the  borders  of  Canada,   British  Co- 


112  IMMIGRATION 

lumbia,  and  Mexico.  The  duties  and  powers  previously- 
vested  in  the  state  boards  are  now  to  go  to  the  regular 
inspection  officers  of  the  United  States. 

Section  io.  All  aliens  who  unlawfully  come  to  the 
United  States  are  to  be  immediately  sent  back  on  the 
vessel  in  which  they  came,  all  expenses  in  the  meantime 
to  be  borne  by  the  shipowner. 

Section  ii.  Any  ahen  who  comes  into  the  United 
States  in  violation  of  law  may  be  deported  within  one 
year,  and  any  alien  who  becomes  a  public  charge  within 
one  year  after  landing,  from  causes  existing  prior  to  this 
landing,  may  be  deported.  The  expenses  of  all  deporta- 
tions are  to  be  borne  by  the  transportation  agency  re- 
sponsible for  bringing  in  the  immigrant,  if  that  is  pos- 
sible, and  if  not,  by  the  United  States. 

The  items  in  this  act  particularly  worthy  of  notice 
are  the  following :  extension  of  the  excluded  classes ; 
prohibition  of  encouraging  immigration  by  advertising 
or  soHcitation,  an  attempt  to  cure  two  serious  evils,  the 
success  of  which  we  shall  have  occasion  to  note  later; 
relatives  and  personal  friends  in  this  country  no  longer 
excepted  from  the  contract  labor  clause  (this  exception 
had  almost  vitiated  the  former  law) ;  requirement  of 
manifests ;  the  complete  assumption  of  the  work  of 
inspection  by  the  federal  government ;  extension  of  the 
principle  of  deportation  to  public  charges. 

Act  of  March  3,  1893.  Section  i.  Manifests  greatly 
enlarged  in  detail. 

Section  2.  Alien  passengers  are  to  be  listed  in  con- 
venient groups  of  not  more  than  thirty  each,  and  given 
tickets  corresponding  to  their  numbers  on  the  manifests. 
The  master  of  the  vessel  must  certify  that  he  and  the 
ship's  surgeon  have  made  an  examination  of  all  the  im- 


MODERN   PERIOD.     FEDERAL   LEGISLATION     113 

migrants  before  sailing,  and  believe  none  of  them  to  be- 
long to  the  excluded  classes. 

Section  3.  If  the  ship  has  no  surgeon,  examination 
must  be  made  by  a  competent  surgeon  hired  by  the 
transportation  company. 

Section  5.  Immigrants  who  are  not  beyond  any  doubt 
entitled  to  land  are  to  be  held  for  special  inquiry  by  a 
board  of  not  less  than  four  inspectors. 

The  noteworthy  features  in  this  law  are  examination 
at  the  expense  of  the  company  at  the  port  of  embarka- 
tion, listing  the  immigrants  in  groups  of  thirty,  the  in- 
stitution of  the  boards  of  special  inquiry. 

August  18,  1894.     Head  tax  is  raised  to  $1. 

March  2,  1895.  The  Superintendent  of  Immigration 
is  hereafter  to  be  designated  the  Commissioner  General 
of  Immigration. 

June  6,  1900.  The  Commissioner  General  of  Immi- 
gration is  made  responsible  for  the  administration  of  the 
Chinese  Exclusion  Acts. 

March  3,  1903.  Section  i.  The  head  tax  is  raised 
to  $2,  and  is  not  to  apply  to  citizens  of  Canada,  Cuba, 
or  Mexico. 

Section  2.  The  following  are  added  to  the  debarred 
classes  :  epileptics,  persons  who  have  been  insane  within 
five  years  previous,  persons  who  have  had  two  or  more 
attacks  of  insanity  at  any  time  previously ;  professional 
beggars,  anarchists,  or  persons  who  believe  in  or  advocate 
the  overthrow  by  force  or  violence  of  the  government  of 
the  United  States,  or  of  all  government  or  of  all  forms  of 
law,  or  the  assassination  of  public  officials ;  prostitutes, 
and  persons  who  procure  or  attempt  to  bring  in  prosti- 
tutes or  women  for  the  purpose  of  prostitution  ;  those 
who,  within  one  year,  have  been  deported  under  the  con- 
tract labor  clause. 


1 14  I]\IMIGRATION 

Section  3.  The  importation  of  prostitutes  is  forbidden 
under  a  (maximum)  penalty  of  live  years'  imprisonment 
and  a  fine  of  $5000. 

Section  9.  The  bringing  in  of  any  person  afHicted 
with  a  loathsome  or  a  dangerous  contagious  disease 
by  any  person  or  company,  except  railway  lines,  is 
forbidden.  A  fine  of  $100  is  attached  if  it  appears 
that  the  disease  might  have  been  detected  at  the  time 
of  embarkation. 

Section  ii.  If  a  rejected  alien  is  helpless  from  sick- 
ness, physical  disability,  or  infancy,  and  is  accompanied 
by  an  alien  whose  protection  is  required,  both  shall  be 
returned  in  the  usual  way. 

Section  20.  The  period  of  deportation  for  aliens  who 
have  come  into  this  country  in  violation  of  law,  includ- 
ing those  who  have  become  public  charges  within  two 
years  after  landing,  is  raised  to  two  years. 

Section  21 .  A  similar  provision  for  deportation  within 
three  years  is  made  for  the  above  classes  of  aliens,  with 
the  exception  of  public  charges. 

Section  24.  The  appointment  of  immigration  in- 
spectors and  other  employees  is  put  under  the  Civil 
Service  rules. 

Section  25.  The  boards  of  special  inquiry  are  to  con- 
sist of  three  members.  Either  the  aUen  or  any  dissent- 
ing member  of  the  board  may  appeal. 

Section  39.   Anarchists,  etc.,  are  not  to  be  naturalized. 

The  important  features  of  this  act  are  the  further  ex- 
tension of  the  excluded  classes;  special  attention  and 
penalties  with  respect  to  prostitutes;  the  period  of  de- 
portation raised  to  two  and  three  years. 

Act  of  February  14,  1903.  The  Department  of  Com- 
merce and  Labor  is  created,  and  the  Commissioner  General 


MODERN   PERIOD.     FEDERAL   LEGISLATION    115 

of  Immigration  is  transferred  to  it  from  the  Treasury- 
Department. 

March  22,  1904.  Newfoundland  is  added  to  the 
countries  exempt  from  the  head  tax. 

June  29,  1906.  The  Bureau  of  Immigration  is  hence- 
forth to  be  called  the  Bureau  of  Immigration  and  Natural- 
ization, and  is  to  have  charge  of  the  business  of  natural- 
ization. A  register  is  to  be  kept  at  immigration  stations, 
giving  full  information  in  regard  to  all  aliens  arriving  in 
the  United  States. 

On  February  20,  1907,  there  was  passed  an  inclusive 
immigration  law,  designed  to  include  all  of  the  previous 
laws,  and  repeahng  such  provisions  of  earlier  laws  as 
are  not  consistent  with  the  present  law.  The  principal 
changes  introduced  by  the  new  law  are  as  follows : 

Section  i.  The  head  tax  is  raised  to  $4.  It  is  not 
to  be  levied  on  aliens  who  have  resided  for  at  least 
one  year  immediately  preceding,  in  Canada,  Newfound- 
land, Cuba,  or  Mexico,  nor  on  ahens  in  transit  through 
the  United  States. 

Section  2.  To  the  excluded  classes  are  added  imbe- 
ciles, feeble-minded  persons,  persons  afflicted  with 
tuberculosis,  persons  not  included  in  any  of  the  specifi- 
cally excluded  classes  who  have  a  mental  or  physical 
deficiency  which  may  affect  their  ability  to  earn  a  Hving, 
persons  who  admit  having  committed  a  crime  involving 
moral  turpitude,  persons  who  admit  their  belief  in  the 
practice  of  polygamy,  women  or  girls  coming  into  the 
United  States  for  the  purpose  of  prostitution,  or  for 
any  other  immoral  purpose,  or  persons  who  attempt  to 
bring  in  such  women  or  girls,  and  all  children  under  the 
age  of  sixteen  unaccompanied  by  one  or  both  of  their 
parents,  at  the  discretion  of  the  Secretary  of  Commerce 


ii6  IMMIGRATION 

and  Labor.  Persons  whose  tickets  are  paid  for  with 
the  money  of  another  must  show  affirmatively  that 
they  were  not  paid  for  by  any  corporation,  society,  as- 
sociation, municipality,  or  foreign  government,  either 
directly  or  indirectly.  This  is  not  to  apply  to  ahens  in 
continuous  transit  through  the  United  States  to  foreign 
contiguous  territory. 

Section  3.  The  harboring  of  immoral  women  and 
girls  in  houses  of  prostitution,  or  any  other  place  for 
purposes  of  prostitution,  within  a  period  of  three  years 
after  their  arrival,  is  made  an  offense  punishable  in  the 
same  manner  as  importing  them.  Such  women  are 
liable  to  deportation  within  three  years. 

Section  9.  A  fine  of  $100  is  imposed  on  any  person 
bringing  in  aliens  subject  to  any  of  the  following  dis- 
abilities :  idiots,  imbeciles,  epileptics,  or  persons  af- 
flicted with  tuberculosis  (or  with  a  loathsome  or  dan- 
gerous contagious  disease),  if  these  existed  and  might 
have  been  detected  previous  to  embarkation. 

Section  12.  It  is  made  the  duty  of  shipmasters 
taking  alien  passengers  out  of  the  United  States  to  fur- 
nish a  report,  before  sailing,  giving  the  name,  age,  sex, 
nationahty,  residence  in  the  United  States,  occupation, 
and  time  of  last  arrival  in  the  United  States  of  each  such 
alien  passenger. 

Section  20.  All  deportations  may  be  within  three 
years. ^ 

Section  25.  Appeal  from  a  decision  of  a  board  of 
special  inquiry  may  be  made  by  the  rejected  alien  or  by 
any  member  of  the  board,  through  the  commissioner  of 

',By  an  administrative  rule  of  the  department  any  alien,  who  is  a  lawful 
resident  of  the  United  States  and  becomes  a  public  charge  from  physical  dis- 
ability arising  subsequent  to  his  landing,  may,  with  his  consent,  and  the  approval 
of  the  bureau,  be  deported  within  one  year  at  government  expense. 


MODERN   PERIOD.     FEDERAL   LEGISLATION     117 

the  port  and  the  Commissioner  General  of  Immigration 
to  the  Secretary  of  Commerce  and  Labor,  except  in 
cases  of  tuberculosis,  loathsome  or  dangerous  contagious 
disease,  or  mental  or  physical  disabihty,  as  previously 
provided  for,  in  which  case  the  decision  of  the  board  is 
final. 

Section  26.  Any  alien  who  is  not  admissible  because 
likely  to  become  a  pubHc  charge,  or  because  of  physical 
disability  other  than  tuberculosis  or  loathsome  or 
dangerous  contagious  disease,  may  be  admitted  on  a 
suitable  bond  against  becoming  a  public  charge. 

Section  39.  Aii  Iminigration  Commission  is  to  be 
appointed. 

Section  40.  The  establishment  of  a  Divison  of  In- 
formation is  authorized.  Its  duty  is  to  promote  a  bene- 
ficial distribution  of  aliens  admitted  into  the  United 
States. 

Section  42.  Provisions  regarding  steerage  accommo- 
dations.^ 

The  especially  noteworthy  features  of  tliis  act  are  the 
following :  further  extension  of  the  excluded  classes ; 
more  stringent  provisions  regarding  immoral  women,  and 
their  managers ;  the  fine  for  bringing  in  inadmissible 
aliens  extended  to  other  classes ;  the  beginning  of  statis- 
tics of  departing  aliens ;  appeal  not  allowed  from  the 
decision  of  a  board  of  special  inquiry  in  case  of  mental 
or  physical  disability ;  Immigration  Commission  au- 
thorized ;   Division  of  Information  established. 

The  only  important  addition  to  immigration  legislation 
since  this  act  is  the  act  of  March  26,  1910,  by  which 
there  were  added  to  the  excluded  and  deportable  classes 
"persons  who  are  supported  by  or  receive  in  full  or  in  part 

»  See  page  118. 


ii8  IMMIGRATION 

the  proceeds  of  prostitution."  The  three-year  limit  for 
deportation  was  removed  as  regards  sexually  immoral 
aliens.  Closely  connected  with  this  phase  of  the  immi- 
gration statutes  is  a  recent  act  prohibiting  the  importa- 
tion from  one  state  to  another  of  persons  for  the  purpose 
of  prostitution.  In  accordance  with  an  act  just  passed 
(1913)  the  business  of  immigration  and  naturalization 
passes  over  to  the  newly  created  Department  of  Labor. 

We  have  seen  that  up  to  1882  practically  all  the  federal 
acts  relating  to  immigration  had  to  do  with  the  regulation 
of  steerage  conditions.  Until  the  year  1907  these  acts, 
which  were  encouraging  in  tendency,  were  always  con- 
sidered as  a  separate  body  of  legislation  from  the  real  im- 
migration laws,  which  were  primarily  restrictive  in  char- 
acter. In  the  act  of  that  year,  however,  the  control 
of  the  steerage  was  included  in  the  immigration  law, 
where  it  logically  belonged.  There  had  been  one  or  two 
important  pieces  of  steerage  legislation  passed  previous 
to  this  time  which  we  have  not  as  yet  noticed. 

The  last  important  steerage  act  which  has  been  noted 
was  the  act  of  1855.  The  principal  law  between  that 
date  and  1907  was  the  act  of  1882.  "Viewed  from  the 
standpoint  of  its  predecessors  the  passenger  act  of  1882 
was  an  excellent  measure.  Its  framers  had  profited 
by  observing  the  results  of  the  legislative  experiments  of 
about  sixty-two  years.  This  advantage,  together  with 
the  marvelous  development  and  progress  in  the  methods 
of  passenger  traffic,  enabled  the  lawmakers  to  draft 
an  intelligent  and  comprehensive  bill.  By  its  provisions 
the  safety  and  comfort  of  emigrants  were,  theoretically 
at  least,  assured.  No  deck  less  than  6  feet  in  height  on 
any  vessel  was  allowed  to  be  used  for  passengers.  On 
the  main  deck  and  the  deck  next  below  100  cubic  feet  of  air 


MODERN  PERIOD.     FEDERAL   LEGISLATION    119 

space  was  allowed  each  passenger,  and  on  the  second 
deck  below  the  main  deck  120  cubic  feet  was  allowed  each 
person.  Decks  other  than  the  three  above  mentioned 
were  under  no  circumstances  to  be  used  for  passengers. 
With  the  development  of  shipbuilding,  however,  other 
decks  were  added  to  ships,  and  this  provision  soon  became 
obsolete.  Sufficient  berths  for  all  passengers  were  to  be 
provided,  the  dimensions  of  each  berth  to  be  not  less  than 
2  feet  in  width  and  6  feet  in  length,  with  suitable  parti- 
tions dividing  them.  The  sexes  were  to  be  properly- 
separated.  The  steerage  was  to  be  amply  suppHed  with 
fresh  air  by  means  of  modern  approved  ventilators. 
Three  cooked  meals,  consisting  of  wholesome  food,  were 
to  be  served  regularly  each  day.  Each  ship  was  to  have 
a  fully  equipped  modern  hospital  for  the  use  of  sick  pas- 
sengers. A  competent  physician  was  to  be  in  attendance 
and  suitable  medicines  were  to  be  carried.  The  ship's 
master  was  authorized  to  enforce  such  rules  and  regula- 
tions as  would  promote  habits  of  cleanUness  and  good 
health.  Dangerous  articles,  such  as  highly  explosive 
substances  and  powerful  acids,  were  forbidden  on 
board."  1 

The  above  act  remained  in  force  until  1907,  when  it 
was  superseded  by  Section  42  of  the  immigration  act  of 
that  year.  By  this  law  the  cubic  air  space  system  of 
the  act  of  1882  was  abandoned  in  favor  of  the  superfi- 
cial area  system  of  preventing  overcrowding.  Eighteen 
clear  feet  of  deck  space  on  the  main  deck  or  the  deck 
next  below  were  to  be  provided  for  each  passenger,  and 
20  feet  on  the  second  deck  below.  If  the  height  be- 
tween the  lower  passenger  deck  and  the  one  next  above 
was    less    than    7    feet,   there    must    be    30    clear    feet 

1  Rcpt.  Imm.  Com.,  Steer.  Legis.,  Abs.,  p.  14. 


I20  IMMIGRATION 

of  deck  space  per  passenger.  There  was  also  provision 
for  light  and  ventilation.  No  passengers  were  to  be 
carried  on  any  other  decks  than  those  mentioned. 

This  act  was  unsatisfactory,  as  there  was  much  uncer- 
tainty as  to  which  was  the  main  deck,  inasmuch  as  ships 
with  as  many  as  eight  decks  were  carrying  immigrants. 
The  British  law  was  superior  in  this  respect.  It  specified 
the  lowest  passenger  deck  as  the  one  next  below  the  water 
line.  All  above  this  were  denominated  passenger  decks. 
This  law  required  i8  clear  superficial  feet  for  each  passen- 
ger carried  on  the  lowest  passenger  deck,  and  15  feet 
for  each  passenger  on  passenger  decks.  If  the  height 
of  the  lowest  passenger  deck  was  less  than  7  feet,  or  if  it 
was  not  properly  lighted  and  ventilated,  there  must  be 
25  feet  per  passenger,  and  under  similar  conditions  on 
passenger  decks,  18  feet.  There  must  be  5  feet  of 
superficial  open  deck  space  for  each  passenger.  In 
reckoning  the  space  on  the  lowest  passenger  deck  and 
passenger  decks  the  space  occupied  by  the  baggage  of  pas- 
sengers, public  rooms,  lavatories,  and  bathrooms  used 
exclusively  by  steerage  passengers  might  be  counted, 
provided  the  actual  sleeping  space  was  not  less  than  15 
feet  on  the  lowest  and  12  feet  on  the  others.  On  De- 
cember 19,  1908,  the  United  States  passed  a  law  making 
our  steerage  provisions  correspond  with  the  British  act, 
except  that  the  last  provisions  are  18  feet  and  15 
feet  respectively  in  the  United  States  law. 

In  the  practical  application  of  such  a  complicated  set 
of  laws  as  these  it  is  inevitable  that  many  questions  and 
uncertainties  should  arise.  For  the  guidance  of  immigra- 
tion officials  in  the  performance  of  their  duties,  a  long 
list  of  rules  and  regulations  are  prescribed  by  the  Com- 
missioner General.     A  few  of  these,  which  have  an  im- 


MODERN    PERIOD.     FEDERAL   LEGISLATION     121 

mediate  bearing  on  the  admission  of  aliens  must  be  noted. 
Stowaways  are  considered  ipso  facto  inadmissible,  and 
as  a  rule  are  not  even  examined.  Certain  border  ports 
are  specified  on  the  Canadian  and  Mexican  borders,  and 
any  alien  entering  at  any  other  port  is  assumed  to  have 
entered  in  violation  of  law.  All  ahens  arriving  in  Canada, 
destined  to  the  United  States,  are  inspected  at  one  of  the 
following  ports :  Halifax,  Nova  Scotia ;  Quebec  and 
Point  Levi,  Quebec ;  St.  John,  New  Brunswick ;  Van- 
couver and  Victoria,  British  Columbia.  The  United 
States  maintains  inspection  stations  at  these  points,  and 
aliens  examined  there  are  given  a  certificate  stating  that 
the  alien  has  been  inspected  and  is  admissible,  accom- 
panied by  a  personal  description  for  purposes  of  identi- 
fication. Special  boards  of  inquiry  are  also  established 
in  other  border  cities  for  the  examination  of  ahens, 
originally  destined  for  Canada,  but  who  later  desire  to  be 
admitted  to  the  United  States  within  one  year  after 
their  arrival  in  Canada.  Aliens  entering  the  United 
States  by  Mexican  border  ports  are,  in  general,  subject 
to  the  same  inspection  as  if  arriving  by  a  seaport. 

Ahens  in  transit  are  examined  in  the  same  manner  as 
if  desiring  to  remain  in  the  United  States,  and  if  they  are 
found  to  belong  to  the  debarred  classes  they  are  refused 
permission  to  land.  The  head  tax  is  charged  on  their 
account,  as  for  other  aliens,  but  it  is  refunded  to  the 
transportation  company  if  the  latter  furnishes  satis- 
factory proof  that  the  alien  has  passed  by  a  continuous 
journey  through  the  territory  of  the  United  States, 
within  thirty  days,  such  proof  to  be  furnished  within 
sixty  days  after  the  arrival  of  the  alien. 

Throughout  the  development  of  this  body  of  laws 
certain  well-marked  tendencies  can  be  traced.     In  the 


122  IMMIGRATION 

first  place,  the  criteria  of  admission  have  steadily  in- 
creased in  severity,  until  now  the  law  provides  for  the 
exclusion  of  practically  every  class  of  applicants  who 
might  fairly  be  considered  undesirable,  with  the  excep- 
tion, perhaps,  of  ilhterates.  Secondly,  we  may  note  a 
tendency  to  concentrate  all  business,  connected  with  the 
admission  of  aliens  into  this  country  or  into  membership 
in  the  nation,  in  the  hands  of  a  single  branch  of  the  federal 
government,  and  the  increasing  power  and  importance 
of  this  branch.  Thirdly,  there  is  manifest  an  increasing 
recognition  of  the  right  of  this  country  to  protect  itself 
against  unwelcome  additions  to  its  population,  not  only 
by  refusing  them  admission,  but  by  expelling  them  from 
the  country,  if  their  subsequent  conduct  proves  them 
unworthy  of  retention. 


CHAPTER   VII 

VOLUME  AND  RACIAL  COMPOSITION  OF  THE  IMMIGRATION 

STREAM 

As  regards  the  volume  of  the  immigration  current  the 
modern  period  has  witnessed  a  continuation  of  the  same 
general  process  which  has  been  going  on  since  1820. 
The  same  succession  of  crests  and  depressions  in  the 
great  wave  has  continued,  the  only  difference  being  that 
the  apex  reached  a  much  higher  point  than  ever  before. 
And,  as  in  other  periods,  the  great  determining  factor  in 
the  volume  of  immigration  has  been  the  economic  situa- 
tion in  this  country.  Prosperity  has  always  been  at- 
tended by  large  immigration,  hard  times  by  the  reverse. 
As  already  remarked,  the  year  1882  was  marked  by  the 
largest  annual  immigration  which  had  hitherto  been 
recorded.  The  next  low-water  mark  was  reached  in  the 
middle  nineties,  following  the  depression  of  1893.  As 
the  country  recovered  from  this,  immigration  began  to 
increase  again,  and  rose  almost  steadily  until  in  1907 
it  reached  the  highest  record  which  it  has  ever  attained, 
a  grand  total  of  1,285,349  immigrants  in  one  year.^ 
The  crisis  of  that  year  interrupted  the  course  of  affairs, 
and  immigration  fell  off  sharply,  and  has  not  since  com- 
pletely recovered. 

There  is  one  matter  connected  with  the  volume  of 
immigration  which  marks  the  last  few  years  of  the 
modem  period  and  is  of  the  greatest  importance.     This 

'  The  figures  since  1858  have  been  for  the  fiscal  year  ending  June  30. 

123 


124  IMMIGRATION 

is  the  provision  for  estimating  the  exact  net  gain  or  loss 
in  population  each  year  through  immigration  move- 
ments. Until  very  recently  the  only  immigration  figures 
which  were  considered  worth  while  were  those  of  arriv- 
ing aUens.  It  was  tacitly  assumed  that  our  immi- 
grant traffic  was  a  wholly  one-sided  one.  But  gradually 
people  began  to  realize  that  there  was  a  large  counter- 
current  of  departmg  aliens.  In  the  Report  of  the  Com- 
missioner General  of  Immigration  for  1906  (p.  56)  an 
effort  is  made  to  supply  as  far  as  possible  these  data  for 
the  years  1890  to  1906.  But  in  the  absence  of  any 
legislation  requiring  shipmasters  to  furnish  lists  of  de- 
parting passengers,  these  figures  are  admittedly  incom- 
plete, and  no  attempt  is  made  to  distinguish  aliens  from 
citizens  of  the  United  States.  The  nearest  approach 
that  can  be  made  to  ascertaining  the  number  of  departing 
ahens  is  to  assume  that  all  the  passengers  other  than 
cabin  belonged  to  this  class.  This  is  probably  not  very 
far  from  the  truth,  and  taking  these  figures  as  a  guide, 
we  can  get  some  idea  of  how  large  the  outward  move- 
ment has  been  at  certain  times,  particularly  during  the 
period  of  commercial  depression  which  marked  the  middle 
nineties.  Thus  in  1895  while  there  were  258,536  ar- 
rivals of  immigrant  aliens,  there  were  216,665  departures 
of  the  class  mentioned,  making  a  total  gain  of  only 
41,871 ;  in  1898  the  net  gain  was  only  98,442  against  a  to- 
tal immigration  of  229,299.  Unfortunately,  figures  are  not 
available  for  1896-189  7.  The  importance  of  this  phase 
of  the  subject  eventually  became  so  evident  that  in  the 
immigration  law  of  1907  a  provision  was  included  re- 
quiring masters  of  departing  vessels  to  file  accurate  and 
detailed  lists  of  their  alien  passengers,  giving  certain 
important  facts  concerning  them.     Accordingly,  in  the 


VOLUME   AND    RACIAL   COMPOSITION      125 

fiscal  year  1908  we  have  for  the  first  time  complete  and 
accurate  data  regarding  departing  ahens. 

In  that  year  another  important  distinction  is  made, 
that  between  immigrant  and  nonimmigrant  ahens  on 
the  inward  passage,  and  emigrant  and  nonemigrant  ahens 
on  the  outward  passage.  Immigrant  aliens  are  those 
whose  place  of  last  permanent  residence  was  in  some 
foreign  country,  and  who  are  coming  here  with  the  in- 
tention of  residing  permanently.  Nonimmigrant  aliens 
are  of  two  classes :  those  whose  place  of  last  permanent 
residence  was  the  United  States,  but  who  have  been 
abroad  for  a  short  period  of  time,  and  those  whose  place 
of  last  permanent  residence  was  in  a  foreign  country, 
and  who  are  coming  to  the  United  States  without  the 
intention  of  residing  permanently,  including  aliens  in 
transit.  Departing  aliens  are  classified  in  a  correspond- 
ing way.  Emigrant  aliens  are  those  whose  place  of  last 
permanent  residence  was  the  United  States,  and  who  are 
going  abroad  with  the  intention  of  residing  there  per- 
manently. Nonemigrant  ahens  are  of  two  classes  :  those 
whose  place  of  last  permanent  residence  was  the  United 
States,  and  who  are  going  abroad  for  a  short  visit  only, 
and  those  whose  place  of  last  permanent  residence  was 
abroad,  but  who  have  been  in  the  United  States  for 
a  short  time,  including  aliens  in  transit.  In  all  cases  the 
expressed  intention  of  the  alien  is  regarded  as  final  con- 
cerning residence,  and  an  intended  future  residence  of 
twelve  months  is  considered  a  permanent  residence. 
The  recent  reports  of  the  Commissioner  General  contain 
tables  almost  as  detailed  for  departing  as  for  arriving 
ahens. 

Thus  it  is  now  possible  to  make  an  exact  reckoning  of 
the  net  gain  or  loss  in  population  each  year  through 


126  IMMIGRATION 

immigration  movements.  The  classes  in  which  we  are 
particularly  interested  are  naturally  the  immigrant  and 
emigrant  aliens,  for  they  are  the  only  participants  in 
true  immigration  movements,  according  to  our  definition. 
The  others  are  merely  travelers.  Yet  they  are  important 
and  interesting  travelers,  and  the  modern  problems  of 
immigration  cannot  be  thoroughly  understood  without 
taking  some  consideration  of  them.  As  for  the  aliens  in 
transit,  they  can  be  quickly  disposed  of.  They  are 
counted  as  nonimmigrant  aliens  on  their  arrival,  and 
nonemigrant  ahens  at  their  departure,  which  is  supposed 
to  occur  within  a  period  of  thirty  days.  Thus  they 
cancel,  and  do  not  in  any  important  way  affect  the  life 
of  the  United  States.  The  other  class  of  nonimmigrants 
and  nonemigrants  is  much  more  important,  for  they 
include  a  group  of  aliens  who  have  attracted  consider- 
able attention  of  late  —  the  so-called  "birds  of  passage." 
These  are,  in  the  strictest  sense,  aliens  who  have  chosen 
the  United  States  as  their  place  of  permanent  residence, 
but  who  go  back  to  the  old  country  for  brief  sojourns  on 
certain  occasions.  In  a  broader  sense,  the  birds  of 
passage  may  also  be  taken  to  include  aliens  whose  per- 
manent residence  is  abroad,  but  who  come  to  this  coun- 
try for  a  brief  stay.^ 

As  an  illustration  of  the  method  of  reckoning  the  gain 
or  loss  in  population,  let  us  take  the  year  1910.  In  that 
year  there  were  1,041,570  immigrant  aliens,  and  156,467 
nonimmigrant  aliens  admitted,  making  a  total  of 
1,198,037.  There  were  202,436  departures  of  emigrant 
aliens  and  177,982  of  nonemigrant  ahens,  making  a  total 
of  380,418.  Thus  there  was  a  net  gain  in  the  year  of 
817,619  ahens  all  together.     But  not  all  of  these  were 

*  For  a  fuller  discussion  of  this  class  see  the  discussion  of  crises,  p.  359. 


VOLUME   AND   RACIAL   COMPOSITION      127 

permanent  residents.  To  get  an  idea  of  the  actual  in- 
crease of  permanent  residents  we  need  to  add  together 
two  classes,  —  the  immigrant  ahens,  who  come  here  for 
the  first  time  with  the  intention  of  residing  permanently, 
and  those  nonimmigrant  aliens  who  are  such,  not  be- 
cause they  do  not  expect  to  reside  here  permanently, 
but  because  their  permanent  residence  has  already  been 
estabhshed  here  and  who  have  been  abroad  for  a  brief 
period.  Of  the  former  class,  the  immigrant  aliens,  there 
were  1,041,570;  of  the  second  class,  nonimmigrants 
whose  places  of  last  permanent  residence  and  of  intended 
future  residence  were  both  the  United  States,  there  were 
94,075.  This  makes  a  total  of  1,135,645  permanent 
alien  residents  who  came  into  the  United  States  in  the 
year  in  question.  The  actual  decrease  in  permanent 
residents  may  be  computed  in  a  similar  way.  In  the 
year  in  question  there  were  202,436  emigrant  ahens  who 
departed,  and  89,754  nonemigrant  aliens  whose  places  of 
last  permanent  residence  and  intended  future  residence 
were  both  the  United  States,  —  that  is,  permanent 
residents  of  this  country  who  left  for  a  brief  period  only. 
This  makes  a  total  of  292,190  permanent  residents  of 
this  country  who  left  it  in  the  year  in  question.  Sub- 
tracting this  number  from  the  total  of  permanent  res- 
idents who  arrived,  we  have  a  remainder  of  843,455. 
This  represents  the  actual  gain  in  permanent  aUen  res- 
idents during  the  year  in  question.  This  figure,  in  the 
year  in  question,  happens  to  come  very  near  to  the  gross 
gain  estimated  in  the  simplest  way.  But  it  is  not  neces- 
sarily so,  and  in  the  year  1908  there  was  considerable 
difference  between  the  two  figures.  It  is  not  always 
necessary  to  make  this  somewhat  involved  calculation. 
In  many  cases,  the  mere  comparison  of  the  figures  for 


128  IMMIGRATION 

immigrant  and  emigrant  aliens  is  sufficient  for  the  pur- 
pose. But  there  are  many  other  instances  in  which 
accuracy  and  consistency  require  this  exact  calculation 
to  be  made,  and  it  is  a  decided  acquisition  to  the  study  of 
immigration  to  have  these  data  available.^  Thus  in 
the  year  1909  the  net  gain  in  permanent  alien  residents 
was  584,513,  while  in  1908  it  was  only  341,075;  yet 
there  were  more  immigrant  aliens  admitted  in  1908  than 
in  1909. 

In  respect  to  the  composition  of  this  great  current, 
the  period  in  question  has  witnessed  a  profound  and  most 
significant  change.  We  have  seen  that  prior  to  1882 
practically  the  entire  body  of  immigrants  was  made  up 
of  individuals  from  Germany,  the  United  Kingdom,  and 
the  Scandinavian  countries.  From  that  year  on,  these 
have  steadily  decreased  in  importance,  and  their  places 
have  been  taken  by  contingents  from  Italy,  Austria- 
Hungary,  Russia,  and  other  south  European  countries. 
This  change  has  been  so  pronounced  as  to  lead  to  a  sepa- 
ration of  immigrants  into  the  "old  immigration"  and  the 
"new  immigration,"  a  distinction  which  has  become 
familiar  to  every  casual  student  of  the  subject.  The 
Immigration  Commission  has  recently  given  its  official 
sanction  to  this  classification,  and  in  its  reports  follows 
this  scheme :  the  old  immigration  includes  those  from 
England,  Ireland,  Scotland,  Wales,  Belgium,  Denmark, 
France,  Germany,  the  Netherlands,  Norway,  Sweden, 
and  Switzerland ;  the  new  immigration,  those  from 
Austria-Hungary,  Bulgaria,  Greece,  Italy,  Montenegro, 
Poland,  Portugal,  Roumania,  Russia,  Servia,  Spain, 
Syria,  and  Turkey.  This  schedule  refers  only  to 
European  countries   (with  the  exception  of  Syria  and 

'  As,  for  instance,  in  the  study  of  the  effects  of  crises  (see  pp.  347-361. 


VOLUME   AND   RACIAL   COMPOSITION      129 

Turkey,  which  ethnically  belong  to  Europe),  without 
reference  to  non-European  sources.  But  immigration 
to  the  United  States  is  as  yet  almost  wholly  a  European 
movement,  so  that  other  countries  may  be  neglected  in 
any  general  consideration.  In  so  far  as  there  are  any 
immigrants  from  non-European  sources  they  would 
naturally  be  classed  with  the  new  immigration.  Roughly 
speaking,  the  old  immigration  came  from  the  north  and 
west  of  Europe,  the  new  immigration  comes  from  the 
south  and  east  of  that  continent. 

The  sweeping  nature  of  this  change  can  be  compre- 
hended only  through  the  comparison  of  figures.  The 
immigration  from  the  United  Kingdom  and  Germany, 
which  up  to  1882  had  made  up  so  nearly  all  of  the  total, 
never  again  reached  the  same  figure,  and  gradually 
dwindled,  both  relatively  and  positively,  until  in  1907 
it  amounted  to  only  11. 8  per  cent  of  the  total  immi- 
gration for  the  year.  On  the  other  hand  the  currents 
from  Austria-Hungary,  Italy,  and  Russia,  all  of  which, 
as  we  have  seen,  began  to  attain  prominence  approxi- 
mately in  1882,  grew  steadily  until  in  the  year  1907  they 
amounted  respectively  to  26.3  per  cent,  22.2  per  cent, 
and  20.1  per  cent  of  the  total.  Putting  them  together, 
we  have  a  total  for  these  three  countries  of  68.6  per  cent 
of  the  total  immigration,  and  adding  to  them  the  immi- 
gration from  the  other  countries  belonging  to  the  new 
movement,  we  have  a  total  of  81  per  cent  of  the  European 
immigrants  admitted  to  the  United  States  in  1907.  In 
the  years  from  18 19  to  1883  the  old  immigration  had 
furnished  about  95  per  cent  of  the  total  movement  from 
Europe  to  the  United  States.  Comparing  the  two 
years  1882  and  1907,  it  appears  that  the  old  immigration 
made  up  87.1  per  cent  of  the  total  immigration  in  the 

K 


I30  IMMIGRATION 

first  year,  and  19  per  cent  in  the  latter,  and  the  new 
immigration  12.9  per  cent  in  the  former  and  81  per  cent 
in  the  latter.^ 

This  is  a  most  radical  change,  the  importance  of  which 
can  hardly  be  overestimated.  The  old  immigrants,  as 
we  have  before  observed,  were  of  a  racial  stock  very 
closely  related  to  the  early  settlers  of  the  country,  and  to 
the  original  type  of  the  American  people.  Their  lan- 
guage was  the  same  or  similar,  and  their  national  tradi- 
tions wholly  harmonious.  Consequently  assimilation  was 
a  comparatively  simple  matter.  It  was  practically  a  re- 
forming, on  American  soil,  of  the  EngUsh  race,  from  the 
same  component  elements  which  had  gone  into  it  from 
the  beginning  in  England.  The  new  immigration  is 
made  up  from  people  of  a  very  different  racial  stock, 
representing  the  Slavic  and  Mediterranean  branches 
of  the  Caucasian  race  rather  than  the  Teutonic.  With 
the  difference  in  race  go  differences  in  mental  charac- 
teristics, traditions,  and  habits  of  Hfe.  As  a  result,  the 
problem  of  assimilation  in  this  country  has  taken  on  a 
completely  different  aspect.  Moreover,  this  change  is  a 
very  recent  one.  It  was  not  until  the  year  1896  that  the 
three  currents  from  Austria-Hungary,  Italy,  and  Russia 
exceeded  in  volume  the  contributions  of  the  United 
Kingdom,  Germany,  and  Scandinavia.  The  real  dilu- 
tion of  the  original  American  stock  is  a  matter  of  scarcely 
half  a  generation.  These  facts  will  become  clearer  by 
glancing  at  the  following  table: 

1  Rept.  Imm.  Com.,  Emigration  Conditions  in  Europe,  Abs.,  p.  9. 


VOLUME   AND   Rx\CIAL   COMPOSITION      131 

PER  CENT  OF  TOTAL  IMMIGRATION  COMING  FROM 
SPECIFIED  COUNTRIES  BY  DECADES,  FROM  1861 
TO   1910. 


Country 


Austria-Hungary      .     .     .     . 

German  Empire 

Italy,  Sicily,  and  Sardinia  .  . 
Russian  Empire  and  Finland 
United  Kingdom: 

England 

Ireland 


Years 


1861-70  1871-80  1881-90  1891-00  1901-10 


0-33 

35 

0.51 
0.2 

38 


2.6 

25-5 
2 

1.9 

15.6 

iS-S 


6.7 
28 

5-9 
4.4 

12 
12 


16 

14 
18 

14 


6 
10 


24.4 

3-9 

23-3 
18.2 

4.4 
3-9 


In  seeking  to  determine  the  causes  of  this  change  it 
will  be  well  to  note  first  certain  general  causes  which 
have  underlain  the  whole  movement,  and  then  to  consider 
the  specific  causes  which  have  operated  to  stimulate 
immigration  in  certain  of  the  more  important  countries. 

Among  the  general  causes  may  be  mentioned  first  of 
all  the  great  development  of  transportation  during  the 
last  thirty  years.  As  has  been  previously  observed, 
emigration  movements  are  very  dependent  upon  easy  and 
cheap  transportation  facilities.  One  great  reason  why 
there  were  so  many  more  immigrants  from  the  United 
Kingdom,  France,  Germany,  and  the  Scandinavian  coun- 
tries, during  the  first  three  quarters  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  was  that  communication  between  those  coim- 
tries  and  the  United  States  was  so  much  easier  than 
with  southeastern  Europe.  The  latter  part  of  this  cen- 
tury saw  the  establishment  of  many  direct  steam- 
ship lines  from  Mediterranean  ports  to  the  United 
States,  which  served    to    open  up    this    new  territory. 


132  IMMIGRATION 

There  was  also  a  great  improvement  in  internal 
transportation  in  the  more  backward  countries  of 
Europe,  which  completed  the  Une  of  access  from  the 
United  States  to  the  more  remote  interior  districts  of 
Europe, 

With  the  establishment  of  these  new  lines  of  com- 
munication, it  followed  inevitably  that  the  transporta- 
tion companies  should  put  forth  every  effort  to  attract 
as  much  business  as  possible  to  them.  So  we  find  the 
activities  of  transportation  and  emigration  agents  ex- 
tending farther  and  farther  into  Europe,  with  the  growth 
of  hues  that  demanded  their  services.  The  importance 
of  these  agents  in  stimulating  emigration  will  be  dis- 
cussed in  another  connection.  Along  with  these  changes, 
and  incident  to  the  beginnings  of  emigration  from  some 
of  these  new  sources,  there  grew  up  in  these  countries 
a  better  knowledge  of  the  United  States,  its  attractions, 
and  the  means  of  getting  there.  This  knowledge  was 
very  meager  and  faulty  at  first,  and  willfully  distorted 
by  the  agents,  but  it  served  to  awaken  the  people  to  the 
possibiHties  of  emigration,  and  to  stimulate  them  to  take 
the  step.  This  influence  was  abetted  by  a  growing  sense 
of  independence  and  ambition  on  the  part  of  the  people 
of  these  regions,  which  made  it  more  possible  for  them 
to  act  on  their  own  initiative.  They  could  never  have 
emigrated  under  the  conditions  of  difficulty,  uncertainty, 
and  hardship  which  marked  the  earlier  movement,  and 
which  the  more  hardy,  adventurous,  and  daring  northern 
laces  faced  without  hesitation. 

There  are  two  further  causes  of  this  shifting  of  the 
sources  of  immigration  from  northern  to  southern 
Europe,  which  are  even  more  significant  than  the  fore- 
going.    The  first  of  these  is  that,  with  the  filling  up  of 


VOLUME   AND    RACIAL   COMPOSITION      133 

the  United  States,  and  the  industrial  improvements  of 
northern  Europe,  the  economic  situation  in  this  country 
no  longer  presents  the  same  marked  advantages  over  the 
older  nations  that  it  did  during  most  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  The  immigrant  from  England,  Ireland,  Ger- 
many, or  Sweden  no  longer  finds  his  lot  so  much  easier 
here  than  at  home.  The  United  States  has  now  its 
own  problems  of  congestion,  pauperism,  and  competition 
of  labor.  Consequently  it  is  much  less  worth  while  for 
the  northern  immigrant  to  come.  But  as  compared  with 
the  more  backward  countries  of  Europe,  there  is  still  a 
sufficient  margin  of  advantage  in  the  United  States  to 
make  it  well  worth  while  for  the  peasant  to  make  the 
change.  The  comparison  of  the  conditions  which  exist, 
or  which  he  believes  to  exist,  in  the  United  States,  with 
those  in  his  own  land  has  still  sufficient  power  to 
arouse  those  feehngs  of  discontent  which  are  necessary 
to  migration. 

The  second  of  these  causes  is  that  when  the  represen- 
tatives of  more  backward  countries,  representing  a  lower 
standard  of  Hving  and  of  industrial  demands,  have  once 
begun  to  come,  the  members  of  more  advanced  races 
cease  coming.  They  are  unwilling  to  take  up  residence 
in  a  country  where  they  must  enter  into  competition  with 
their  inferiors,  and  where  all  will  be  classed  together  by 
the  natives.  Our  immigration  started  from  the  most 
advanced  nations  of  Europe.  Each  inferior  reservoir 
which  we  have  successively  tapped,  and  allowed  to  drain 
freely  into  our  nation,  has  tended  to  check  the  flow 
from  the  earlier  sources.  This  will  continue  to  be  true 
to  the  end.  Canada  recognizes  this  fact  frankly, 
and  while  making  every  effort  to  attract  immigrants 
from  the  United    Kingdom  and    northwestern    Europe 


134  IMMIGRATION 

places  serious  obstacles  in  the  way  of  immigrants  from 
the  other  half  of  the  continent.^ 

In  considering  the  specific  causes  of  the  rise  of  the  new 
immigration  we  will  confine  our  attention  primarily  to 
the  countries  of  Austria-Hungary,  Italy,  and  Russia, 
which  send  us  the  great  bulk  of  the  immigrants,  and  in 
which  conditions  are  sufficiently  representative  to  give  a 
satisfactory  idea  of  the  nature  of  the  new  movement  in 
general.     Let  us  first  consider  Austria-Hungary. 

The  early  immigration  from  Bohemia  in  the  middle 
of  the  nineteenth  century  belongs  in  every  way  rather  to 
the  old  than  to  the  new  immigration,  and  need  not  be  con- 
sidered here.  As  for  the  recent  immigration  from  Austria- 
Hungary,  it  may  be  said  that  the  underlying,  funda- 
mental factor  is  the  racial  diversity  which  characterizes 
that  country.  Austria-Hungary  is  not  in  any  sense  a 
nation,  but  a  mixture  of  diverse  and  hostile  races,  held 
together  primarily  by  the  outside  pressure  of  Russia, 
Germany,  Italy,  and  Turkey.  The  attempt  to  get  a 
clear  and  definite  understanding  of  the  racial  composi- 
tion of  the  empire  is  baffling  to  one  who  has  not  had  the 
opportunity  to  make  an  exhaustive  study  of  the  situa- 
tion at  first  hand,  and  even  the  authorities  do  not 
wholly  agree  as  to  the  racial  classification.  The  following 
sketch,  taken  from  Professor  Commons,-  will  give  a  suffi- 
cient idea  of  the  complicated  conditions  which  exist. 
In  the  territory  of  Austria-Hungary  may  be  found  con- 
siderable numbers  of  five  important  sections  of  the 
human  family,  as  follows : 

German. 

Slav :     Czechs   or   Bohemians,    Moravians,    Slovaks, 

1  Rept.  Imm.  Com.,  The  Immigration  Situation  in  Canada,  p.  15. 
*  Commons,  J.  R.,  op.  cit.,  pp.  79  ff. 


VOLUME   AND    RACIAL   COMPOSITION      135 

Poles,  and  Ruthcnians  in  the  northern  part ;  Croatians, 
Servians,  Dalmatians,  and  Slovenians  in  the  southern 
part. 

Magyar. 

Latin :   Italians  and    Roumanians  (Latinized  Slavs) . 

Jewish. 

From  such  a  conglomeration  of  races  it  is  impossible 
that  political  and  social  entanglements  and  difiiculties 
should  not  arise.  In  the  words  of  Miss  Balch, "  PoHtically, 
the  dual  monarchy  is  nothing  short  of  a  monstrosity."  ^ 

In  general,  the  Germans  and  Magyars  are  the  ruling 
element,  and  the  Slavs  are  held  in  subjection.  The 
former  races  constitute  the  nobihty,  and  own  the  land ; 
the  latter  are  the  peasants  and  laborers.  The  manage- 
ment of  public  and  private  financial  affairs  has  largely 
been  monopohzed  by  the  Jews,  who  have  been  more 
hberally  treated  here  than  in  any  other  country  of  modern 
Europe.  Along  with  this  political  inequahty  there  has 
gone  a  pronounced  economic  inequahty,  and  while 
universal  manhood  suffrage  has  recently  been  granted 
by  the  emperor,  it  yet  remains  to  be  seen  whether  it  will 
bring  about  an  improvement  of  the  economic  conditions, 
which  are  the  great  immediate  stimulus  to  emigration. 

One  of  the  greatest  blights  of  Austria-Hungary  is  the 
system  of  landlordism,  and  the  antiquated  system  of 
landholding  and  agriculture,  which  still  persists,  and 
seriously  handicaps  the  country  in  competition  with 
more  advanced  nations.  These  economic  disabihties 
are  accompanied  by  various  social  and  political  dis- 
turbances. Taxes  are  high  and  fall  unequally  upon 
different  classes  of  the  population,  exempting  the  great 
landowners  from  their  fair  share  of    the  burden.     The 

*  Balch,  Emily  G.,  Our  Slavic  Fdlow -Citizens,  p.  2g. 


136  IMMIGRATION 

terms  of  military  service  are  severe.  The  birth  rate  and 
death  rate  are  both  high,  and  the  poverty,  ignorance, 
inequality,  and  helplessness  of  the  people  make  the  over- 
population seem  greater  than  it  is.  The  emigration  is 
almost  wholly  from  the  peasant  class,  which  does  not, 
however,  represent  the  lowest  section  of  the  population. 
Below  the  peasant  in  the  social  scale  are  the  cottager, 
the  laborer,  and  the  farm  servant. 

We  thus  have,  in  the  case  of  Austria-Hungary,  an  in- 
teresting combination  of  economic,  political,  and  social 
causes,  all  resting  upon  racial  heterogeneity.^ 

Turning  to  Italy,  we  find  somewhat  the  same  combina- 
tion of  economic  and  political  causes,  without,  however,  a 
corresponding  basis  of  racial  diversity.  It  is  true  that 
the  population  of  Italy  is  divided  into  two  distinct 
groups,  but  these  are  also  geographically  separated,  and 
the  result  is  a  dual  stream  of  immigration,  rather  than  a 
single  outflow  due  to  racial  antagonism.  The  inhabit- 
ants of  northern  Italy,  the  "north  Italians"  as  they  are 
called,  are  Teutonic  in  blood  and  in  appearance.  Their 
home  is  in  a  relatively  well-developed  manufacturing 
section,  and  a  large  proportion  of  the  emigrants  are 
skilled  artisans,  and  come  from  the  cities.  The  southern 
Italians  belong  to  the  Mediterranean  branch  of  the  Cau- 
casian race,  are  shorter  in  stature  and  more  swarthy, 
and  on  the  whole  much  inferior  in  intelligence  to  their 
northern  compatriots.  The  majority  of  the  emigrants 
are  peasants  from  the  great  landed  estates,  accustomed 
to  wages  about  one  third  of  those  in  the  north.  Naturally 
the  conditions  which  lead  to  emigration  are  somewhat 
different  in  the  north  and  the  south,  and  it  is  in  the  latter 

1  For  a  detailed  account  of  Slavic  immigration,  the  reader  is  referred  to  Miss 
Emily  G.  Balch's  monumental  work,  Our  Slavic  Fellow-Cilizens. 


VOLUME   AND    RACIAL   COMPOSITION      137 

region  that  we  are  particularly  interested,  for,  unfor- 
tunately from  our  point  of  view,  the  great  majority  of 
our  Italian  immigrants  belong  to  the  southern  branch. 
The  distinction  between  these  two  groups  is  so  marked 
that  for  years  the  immigration  authorities  of  the  United 
States  have  recognized  it,  and  have  hsted  them  sepa- 
rately in  the  statistics.  In  1910  there  were  192,673 
south  Italian  immigrants  to  this  country,  and  only 
30,780  north  Itahans.  The  north  Italians  go  to  Argen- 
tina, Uruguay,  and  Brazil  in  about  the  same  numbers 
that  the  south  Italians  come  to  us. 

In  southern  Italy  and  Sicily  the  power  of  the  landlord, 
which  as  in  Austria-Hungary  is  one  of  the  great  curses 
of  Italy,  is  greatest.  The  land  is  divided  up  into  large 
estates  held  by  the  nobility,  and  let  out  to  tenant  farmers 
at  enormously  high  rents.  As  much  as  $160  per  year 
per  acre  is  paid  for  an  orange  garden.  The  leases  are 
short.  The  wages  of  all  classes  are  very  low.  An 
agricultural  laborer  earns  from  8  cents  to  38  cents  per  day, 
an  unskilled  laborer  from  25  cents  to  50  cents,  and  a 
skilled  laborer,  such  as  a  mason  or  carpenter,  from 
27  cents  to  $1.40.^ 

It  is  true  that  prices  are  lower  than  in  the  United 
States,  so  that  these  wages  are  not  so  extremely  inade- 
quate as  might  at  first  appear.  Nevertheless,  the  differ- 
ence between  prices  in  this  country  and  in  Italy  is  not 
nearly  so  great  as  the  difference  in  wages,  so  that  the 
wage  scale  is  in  fact  much  lower  there.  Living  expenses 
are  seriously  increased  by  an  exaggerated  system  of  in- 
direct taxes,  which  are  so  severe  in  the  case  of  food  as 
to   make   food   alone   cost   the  peasants    about  85    per 

'  Commons,  J.  R.,  op.  cit.,  p.  73.  For  fuller  figures  see  Kjng,  B.,  and 
Okey,  T.,  Italy  To-day,  p.  126. 


138  IMMIGRATION 

cent  of  their  wages.  These  taxes  are  so  arranged  as  to 
fall  with  undue  weight  upon  the  poor  and  working  classes, 
forcing  them  to  pay  over  one  half  of  the  entire  amount  of 
taxes.  The  amount  thus  paid,  exclusive  of  the  tax  on 
wine,  amounts  to  from  10  to  20  per  cent  of  their 
wages.  Moreover,  this  is  an  increasing  burden.  Since 
1870  the  wealth  of  the  country  has  increased  17  per 
cent  and  taxes  30  per  cent. 

The  army  and  navy  are  a  tremendous  drain  upon  the 
people,  in  two  ways.  First,  they  vastly  increase  the 
national  expenditures.  The  money  spent  for  this  pur- 
pose amomits  to  one  fourth  more  of  the  national  income 
than  is  spent  by  France  or  Germany,  and  nearly  three 
times  as  much  as  by  the  United  States.  Secondly,  they 
interfere  with  production,  as  every  able-bodied  peasant 
is  required  to  serve  in  the  army  for  a  term  of  two  years. 

Another,  and  more  profound,  cause  of  economic  dis- 
tress is  found  in  the  rapid  increase  of  population.  This  is 
both  a  cause  and  a  result  of  poverty,  and  the  birth  rate 
is  highest  in  the  poorest  districts.  While  this  high 
birth  rate  is  accompanied  by  a  high  death  rate,  there  is 
still  difference  enough  between  the  two  to  bring  about  an 
extreme  density  of  population,  exceeded  only  by  the 
islands  of  Great  Britain  and  Japan,  and  the  states  of 
Rhode  Island  and  Massachusetts,  and  the  little  country 
of  Belgium.  In  such  a  densely  populated  country,  where 
both  the  birth  rate  and  death  rate  are  high,  we  are  almost 
always  sure  to  find  economic  pressure  and  distress.^ 

As  a  result  of  the  foregoing  conditions,  the  annual 
emigration  from  Italy  is  very  heavy.  In  addition  to  the 
true  emigration,  where  there  is  a  permanent  change  of 
residence,  there  is  a  large  amount  of  temporary  or  periodic 

*  Cf.  Americans  in  Process,  p.  46. 


VOLUME   AND   RACIAL   COMPOSITION      139 

migration,  in  which  case  the  individual  leaves  his  home 
only  for  a  short  space  of  time,  with  the  fixed  intention  of 
returning.  Much  of  this  temporary  emigration  is  directed 
to  France  and  Germany,  where  work  is  obtainable  during 
the  summer  season.  Some  of  it  turns  toward  North 
America,  and  a  large  amount  to  South  America.  Many 
Italians  take  advantage  of  the  difference  in  seasons,  and 
put  in  two  seasons  of  summer  work  in  each  year,  one 
on  each  side  of  the  equator.  It  is  estimated  that  about 
one  third  of  the  total  migration  from  Italy  is  of  this 
temporary  or  periodic  character.^ 

Of  the  total  number  of  immigrants  to  the  United  States 
from  Russia,  somewhat  less  than  one  tenth  are  Russians. 
The  balance  are  Poles,  Lithuanians,  Finns,  Germans, 
and  Jews.  Agricultural,  social,  and  pohtical  conditions 
in  Russia  are  sufficiently  well  understood  to  make  it  no 
cause  for  wonder  that  almost  any  of  its  common  citizens 
should  be  glad  to  leave.  The  Russian  peasant  is  said 
to  be  the  most  oppressed  in  Europe,  but  he  is  also  prob- 
ably the  most  ignorant  and  degraded,  and  as  yet  is  only 
beginning  to  learn  to  emigrate.  There  is  a  great  res- 
ervoir there  which  will  be  ready  to  furnish  us  untold 
millions  when  the  current  gets  well  started.  But  so  far 
the  great  stream  from  Russia  is  made  up  principally  of 
other  races.  Of  these,  we  are  particularly  interested  in 
the  Jews,  partly  because  they  are  the  most  numerous, 
partly  because  they  are  a  unique  and  striking  people, 
partly  because  the  reasons  for  their  coming  are  more 
definite  and  easily  comprehended. 

We  have  seen  that  during  the  Middle  Ages  the  Jews 
were  expelled  from  almost  every  country  of  Europe. 
Almost  the  only  region  where  they  were  allowed  a  settle- 

'  Bodio,  Luigi,  "Dell'  Emigrazione  Italiana,"  Nuova  Antologia,  iSj  :  529. 


I40  IMMIGRATION 

ment  was  in  Poland,  and  hence  they  gathered  there  in 
large  numbers.  Under  Russian  domination  this  has 
been  made  the  "Pale  of  Settlement"  for  the  Jews,  and 
now  contains  about  one  third  of  the  11,000,000  people 
of  that  race  in  the  world.  Life  in  any  other  part  of  the 
Empire  is  made  practically  impossible  for  them,  and  it  is 
far  from  easy  there.  Among  the  other  restrictions  put 
upon  the  Jews  during  the  Middle  Ages  was  a  prohibition 
of  engaging  in  agriculture.  But  they  were  allowed  to 
take  usury,  which  was  forbidden  to  Christians.  The 
natural  result  was  that  they  were  driven  almost  entirely 
into  trade,  and  particularly  into  money  lending,  so  that 
those  pursuits  which  seem  to  be  so  well  adapted  to  the 
natural  proclivities  of  the  Jews  were  in  a  sense  thrust 
upon  them.  As  a  result  the  Jews  in  Russia  are  engaged 
Drimarily  in  the  two  businesses  of  lending  money  and 
selling  Hquor.  When  the  Russian  serfs  were  liberated 
in  1861,  and  left  in  a  most  helpless  state  without  either 
capital  or  land,  the  Jews  became  their  merchants, 
middlemen,  and  usurers.  It  was  perfectly  natural  that 
the  ignorant  peasant  should  come  to  blame  the  money 
lender  and  the  saloon  keeper  for  evils  which  were  really 
due  to  the  wretched  political,  social,  and  economic 
organization,  but  of  which  they  seemed  to  be  the  im- 
mediate agents.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  the 
government  encouraged  this  popular  antipathy  toward 
an  unpopular  race  for  the  sake  of  diverting  the  indigna- 
tion of  the  masses  from  itself.  Certain  it  is  that  the 
attitude  of  the  government  has  been  most  hostile  to  the 
Tews.  In  1881  this  antagonism  culminated  in  a  series  of 
terrible  anti-Semitic  riots,  and  then  began  the  exodus  to 
America. 

In  the  next  year,  1882,  were  passed  a  set  of  laws,  known 


VOLUME   AND   RACIAL   COMPOSITION      141 

as  the  May  Laws,  which,  with  other  subsequent  ones  of  a 
similar  nature,  have  made  existence  for  the  Jews  almost 
intolerable  in  the  Russian  Empire.  These  laws,  inspired 
largely  by  the  Greek  Orthodox  Church,  have  made  it 
impossible  for  the  Jew  "  to  foreclose  a  mortgage  or  to 
lease  or  purchase  land ;  he  cannot  do  business  on  Sun- 
days or  Christian  holidays ;  he  cannot  hold  office ;  he 
cannot  worship  or  assemble  without  police  permit ;  he 
must  serve  in  the  army,  but  cannot  become  an  officer ; 
he  is  excluded  from  schools  and  universities ;  he  is  fined 
for  conducting  manufactures  and  commerce  ;  he  is  almost 
prohibited  from  the  learned  professions."  ^  The  press 
is  against  them.  Here  in  America  we  hear  of  only  the 
climaxes  of  this  persecution,  but  the  oppression  is  con- 
stant and  untiring.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  the  Jews  seek 
relief  in  flight  ? 

It  will  become  evident  from  time  to  time  that  our 
Jewish  immigration  is  in  many  respects  unique,  and 
stands  as  an  exception  to  many  of  the  general  principles 
which  one  might  lay  down  concerning  immigration. 
So  in  respect  to  the  causes  of  their  emigration  it  is  not 
surprising  to  find  a  situation  somewhat  different  from 
other  branches  of  the  new  immigration,  or  from  any 
other  immigration,  in  fact.  The  Jews  have  always  been 
a  "pecuHar  people,"  and  religion  has  played  a  larger 
part  in  their  history  than  in  the  case  of  probably  any 
other  modem  people.  The  persecutions  to  which  they 
have  been  subjected  from  age  to  age  have  had  religious 
diversity  as  their  ostensible  and  obvious,  if  not  always 
their  only,  motive.     And  in  the  modern  emigration  from 

'Commons,  J.  R.,  op.  cil.,p.Q2.  Cf.  Americans  in  Process,  p.  48;  Rubinow, 
I.  M.,  "The  Jews  in  Russia,"  Vale  Rcvinf,  August.  1006,  p.  147;  Antin,  Mary, 
The  Promised  Land  ;   Evans-Gordon,  The  Alien  Immigrant,  Chs.  IV,  V. 


142  IMMIGRATION 

Russia,  while  the  oppression  under  which  they  suffer 
touches  almost  every  phase  of  their  life,  and  imposes 
numberless  economic  handicaps,  it  rests  ultimately  upon 
religious  grounds.  Russia  is  the  only  modern  country 
from  which  numerous  emigrants  are  driven  by  actual 
persecution,  though  it  is  said  that  Roumania  has 
within  the  last  ten  years  passed  anti- Jewish  laws  more 
stringent  than  those  of  Russia. 

Conditions  in  Austria-Hungary  and  Italy,  and  to  a  less 
extent  in  Russia,  may  be  taken  as  typical  of  the  cir- 
cumstances which  prevail  in  other  countries  of  southern 
and  eastern  Europe,  and  Asia  Minor,  from  which  our 
new  immigrants  come.  In  Bulgaria  the  following  four 
particular  reasons  have  been  assigned  for  emigration : 

(i)  Bulgaria  is  distinctively  an  agricultural  country, 
and  while  a  large  per  cent  of  the  people  own  their  farms, 
the  holdings  are  too  small  to  enable  them  to  make  a 
sufficient  living,  and  the  methods  of  cultivation  are  poor. 

(2)  There  is  a  great  dearth  of  manufacturing  industry. 
In  1907  there  were  only  166  factories  of  any  size,  with 
6149  workers. 

(3)  Taxes  are  very  heavy,  amounting  to  one  fifth,  one 
fourth,  or  even  one  third  of  the  earnings  of  famihes. 

(4)  There  is  much  dissatisfaction  with  the  government 
among  the  peasants  on  the  grounds  of  expense,  and  of 
the  very  oppressive  terms  of  military  service.^ 

Summing  up  the  facts  regarding  the  volume  and  racial 
character  of  immigration  during  this  period,  it  appears 
that,  as  regards  the  former,  the  series  of  waves  has  been 
continued,  responding  to  the  economic  conditions,  but 
reaching  a  much  higher  culmination  than  ever  before. 
As  regards  the  latter,  there  has  been  a  most  distinct  and 

1  Marsh,  Benjamin  C,  Charities,  XXI:  15,  p.  649. 


VOLUME   AND    RACL\L   COMPOSITION      143 

profound  change.  The  main  source  of  the  immigrant 
current  has  shifted  away  from  northern  and  western 
Europe,  to  the  southern  and  eastern  portions  of  the  con- 
tinent, whose  people  are  by  no  means  so  closely  related  in 
physique  or  so  similar  in  mental  characteristics  to  the 
people  of  the  United  States  as  the  immigrants  of  earher 
periods.  The  causes  of  this  change  He  primarily  in 
altered  conditions  in  the  United  States  which  make  it 
less  attractive  to  the  residents  of  the  more  advanced 
nations  of  Europe  than  formerly.  In  the  more  back- 
ward countries  the  political  and  economic  situation  is 
still  so  inferior  to  the  United  States  that  an  ample 
motive  for  emigration  exists.  All  that  was  needed  to 
start  a  large  movement  was  a  knowledge  of  the  possibili- 
ties across  the  Atlantic,  and  the  means  of  getting  there. 
Both  of  these  have  been  provided  within  the  period  in 
question. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE   CAUSES    OF   IMMIGRATION 

There  are  two  things  which  the  student  of  sociological 
problems  —  like  every  other  scientist  —  wishes  to  know 
about  the  phenomena  which  fall  within  his  field.  These 
are  the  causes  and  the  effects.  Hitherto  we  have  said  a 
good  deal  about  the  causes  of  immigration  and  very 
little  about  the  effects.  In  truth,  it  is  much  simpler  to 
predicate  causes  of  such  a  movement  than  effects.  The 
causes  lie  in  the  past ;  the  effects  are  largely  a  matter  of 
the  future.  It  is  possible  to  state  with  a  fair  degree  of 
certainty  what  are  the  causes  of  the  modern  immigration 
to  the  United  States.  The  reader  will  have  already 
formed  a  general  idea  from  the  examples  of  the  new 
immigration  which  we  have  given. 

In  general  the  causes  of  our  recent  and  present  immi- 
gration may  be  divided  into  two  classes,  the  natural  and 
the  artificial.  Most  of  what  has  been  said  thus  far  refers 
to  the  former;  the  latter  has  been  merely  hinted  at. 
Another  distinction  which  is  often  helpful  is  that  between 
the  permanent  or  predisposing  causes,  and  the  temporary 
or  immediate  causes.  It  frequently  happens  that  in  a 
given  country  there  are  conditions  of  long  standing  — 
perhaps  inherent  in  the  character  of  the  country  itself  — 
which  make  fife  hard  and  disagreeable  for  the  resident. 
Yet  no  immigration  takes  place  until  some  relatively 
trivial  event,  of  a  temporary  nature,  occurs,  which  serves 
as  the  final  impulse  to  emigration.  To  the  superficial 
view  this  temporary  event  appears  as  the  cause  of  emigra- 

144 


THE   CAUSES   OF  IMMIGRATION  145 

tion,  when  in  point  of  fact  its  weight  in  the  total  amount 
of  dissatisfactions  is  insignificant.^  The  natural  causes 
of  immigration  at  the  present  time  lie  primarily  in  the 
superiority  of  the  economic  conditions  in  the  United 
States  over  those  In  the  countries  from  which  the  im- 
migrants come.  Modern  immigration  is  essentially  an 
economic  phenomenon.  Religious  and  political  causes 
have  played  the  leading  part  in  the  past,  and  still  enter 
in  as  contributory  factors  in  many  cases.  But  the  one 
prevailing  reason  why  the  immigrant  of  to-day  leaves 
his  native  village  is  that  he  is  dissatisfied  with  his  eco- 
nomic lot,  as  compared  with  what  it  might  be  in  the  new 
world.  The  European  peasant  comes  to  America  be- 
cause he  can  —  or  beheves  he  can  —  secure  a  greater 
return  in  material  welfare  for  the  amount  of  labor 
expended  in  this  country  than  in  his  home  land.  This 
fact  is  recognized  by  practically  all  careful  students  of 
the  subject,  and  is  frequently  emphasized  in  the  recent 
report  of  the  Immigration  Commission.  It  is  worthy 
of  notice,  also,  that  the  changes  which  affect  the  volume 
of  the  immigration  current,  and  cause  those  repeated 
fluctuations  which  we  have  observed,  are  changes  in  the 
economic  situation  in  this  country,  rather  than  in  the 
countries  of  source.  A  period  of  good  times  in  this 
country  attracts  large  numbers  of  immigrants  by  prom- 
ising large  rewards  for  labor ;  an  industrial  depression 
checks  the  incoming  current,  and  sends  away  many  of 
those  who  are  here.  This  is  probably  accounted  for 
by  the  fact  that  economic  conditions  in  this  country 
are   subject   to   greater   oscillations   than   in   European 

'  The  instances  given  by  Mrs.  Houghton  of  economic  causes  of  immigration 
are  mainly  of  this  temporary'  nature,  though  not  all  trifling.     See  Houghton, 
Louise  S.,  "Syrians  in  the  United  States,"  Survey.  July  i,  igii,  p.  482. 
L 


146  IMMIGRATION 

countries  which  are  relatively  static,  rather  than  dynamic. 
An  example  of  the  opposite  condition  is  furnished  by 
the  Irish  emigration  of  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  when  a  great  economic  disaster  in  the  country 
of  source  occasioned  a  large  increase  in  emigration. 
This  relation  between  the  economic  situation  in  this 
country  and  the  volume  of  immigration  has  been  worked 
out  statistically  by  Professor  Commons,  and  is  presented 
in  graphic  form  in  a  table  in  his  book,  Races  and  Im- 
migrants in  America  (opposite  page  64).  In  this  table 
he  takes  imports  as  an  index  of  the  prosperity  of  the 
United  States  and  shows  how  closely  the  curve  repre- 
senting immigration  follows  the  curve  of  imports  per 
capita.  If  he  could  have  taken  account  of  the  departing 
aliens  as  well,  the  showing  would  probably  have  been 
still  more  striking. 

The  search  for  the  reasons  for  this  economic  superior- 
ity of  the  United  States  involves  an  investigation  too 
complicated  and  extensive  to  be  undertaken  in  the  pres- 
ent connection.  There  are  two  factors,  however,  which 
may  be  pointed  put,  which,  at  the  beginning  of  our 
national  Hfe,  gave  us  an  advantage  possessed  by  no  other 
modern  nation.  The  first  of  these  was  the  small  ratio 
between  men  and  land,  which  we  have  commented  on 
before.  The  territory  of  the  United  States  was  a  vast, 
newly  discovered  region,  with  untold  natural  resources 
and  every  advantage  of  climate  and  configuration,  in- 
habited by  a  mere  handful  of  settlers,  at  a  time  when  the 
nations  of  Europe  had  long  since  struck  a  balance  be- 
tween population  and  land,  on  the  customary  standard 
of  living.  The  countries  of  Europe  have  also  profited, 
it  is  true,  by  the  opening  up  of  this  great  new  world. 
But  their  benefit  has  been  transmitted  and  indirect, 


THE   CAUSES   OF  IMMIGRATION  147 

while  the  American  people  have  been  the  direct  and  im- 
mediate recipients  of  this  great  advantage.     The  im- 
^portajjce  of  this  factor  can  hardly  be  overestimated. 

The  second  of  these  great  factors  is  the  character  of 
the  American  people  themselves.  We  have  seen  that 
this  was  well  formed  and  distinctive  at  the  time  of  the 
Revolution.  The  early  settlers  of  the  North  American 
continent  were  in  many  respects  a  picked  body,  taken 
from  the  best  of  the  populations  of  Europe.  Their 
descendants  were  also  subjected  to  the  stern  selective 
processes  of  the  struggle  with,  and  conquest  of,  the 
wilderness,  and  the  establishment  of  their  own  economic 
and  political  independence.  As  a  result,  the  American 
people  at  the  beginning  of  our  national  life  had  certain 
qualities  both  of  physical  and  intellectual  character,  — / 
hardihood,  enterprise,  daring,  independence,  love  of 
freedom,  perseverance,  etc.,  —  which  set  them  apart  , 
from  any  of  their  contemporaries. 

It  has  been  the  combination  of  these  two  factors  —  a 
unique  people  in  a  rich  virgin  land  —  which,  more  than 
anything  else,  has  accounted  for  the  eminent  position 
attained  by  the  American  nation  in  the  economic  life 
of  the  world.  Many  other  circumstances  have  doubt- 
less contributed  to  the  result,  but  they  would  have  been 
powerless  to  accomplish  the  end,  without  these  two 
essential  prerequisites.  With  the  disappearance  of  these 
two  distinguishing  features  the  United  States  will  begin 
to  lose  her  position  of  economic  superiority. 

The  statement  made  in  a  previous  paragraph,  that  the 
immigrant  comes  to  America  because  he  can  —  or  be- 
lieves he  can  —  better  his  economic  lot  by  so  doing,  sug- 
gested that  great  class  of  causes  which  we  have  called  the 
artilicial.     The  advantages  of  the  economic  life  in  the 


148  IMMIGRATION 

United  States  all  too  frequently  exist,  not  in  fact,  but 
in  the  mind  of  the  prospective  emigrant.  And  this  be- 
lief is  equally  potent  in  stirring  up  emigration,  whether 
it  is  grounded  on  fact  or  not.  There  are  hosts  of  im- 
migrants passing  through  the  portals  of  Ellis  Island 
every  year  whose  venture  is  based  on  a  sad  misconcep- 
tion. There  are  also  countless  numbers  who  would  never 
have  engaged  in  the  undertaking  had  not  the  idea  of 
doing  so  been  forcibly  and  persistently  instilled  into 
their  minds  by  some  outside  agency.  In  other  words, 
a  very  large  part  of  our  present  immigration  is  not 
spontaneous  and  due  to  natural  causes,  but  is  artificial 
and  stimulated.  This  stimulation  consists  in  creating 
the  desire  and  determination  to  migrate,  by  inducing 
dissatisfaction  with  existing  conditions  as  compared 
with  what  the  new  world  has  to  offer.  Its  source  is  in 
some  interested  person  or  agency  whose  motive  may,  or 
may  not,  be  selfish. 

There  are  three  principal  sources  from  which  this 
stimulation  or  encouragement  to  immigration  emanates 
—  the  transportation  companies,  the  labor  agents, 
and  the  previous  immigrants.  The  motive  of  the  first 
two  is  an  economic  and  wholly  selfish  one ;  that  of  the 
latter  may  or  may  not  be  selfish. 


The  carrying  of  immigrants  from  Europe  to  America 
is  a  very  vast  and  lucrative  business.  The  customary 
charge  for  steerage  passage  averages  at  least  $30,  and 
as  the  large  immigrant  ships  carry  2000  or  more  steer- 
age passengers  there  is  a  possibility  of  receiving  as 
much  as  $60,000  from  steerage  passengers  on  a  single 
voyage.  It  is,  furthermore,  a  business  which  can  be 
almost  indefinitely  expanded  by  vigorous  pushing.  A 
skillful  agent  can  induce  almost  any  number  of  the  simple 


THE   CAUSES   OF  IMMIGRATION  149 

and  credulous  peasants  of  a  backward  European  country 
to  emigrate,  who  had  scarcely  had  such  an  idea  in  their 
heads  before.  Consequently  it  pays  the  transportation 
companies  to  have  an  immense  army  of  such  agents, 
continually  working  over  the  field,  and  opening  up  new 
territory.  The  motive  is  not  so  much  rivalry  for  a  given 
amount  of  business  between  the  different  companies ;  a 
mutual  agreement  between  different  lines  or  groups  of 
lines,  dividing  up  the  territory  from  which  they  shall 
draw  their  steerage  passengers,  practically  precludes 
this.^  It  is  rather  the  possibility  of  actually  creating  new 
business  by  energetic  canvassing. 

It  is  obvious  that  the  activity  of  these  agents  may  be  of 
the  most  pernicious  nature.  The  welfare  of  the  immi- 
grant, or  the  benefit  of  either  country  concerned,  are  of 
no  concern  to  them.  Their  sole  aim  is  to  get  business. 
So  long  as  the  immigrant  has  the  wherewithal  to  pay 
his  passage,  it  matters  not  to  them  where  he  got  it,  nor 
are  they  deterred  by  any  doubts  as  to  the  fitness  of  the 
immigrant  for  American  life,  or  of  the  probability  of  his 
success  there.  In  fact,  it  is  claimed  that  the  steamship 
companies  prefer  a  class  of  immigrants  which  is  likely, 
eventually,  to  return  to  the  old  country,  as  this  creates 
a  traffic  going  the  other  way.  The  only  checks  to  their 
operations  are  such  as  are  imposed  by  their  own  scruples, 
and  the  possession  of  too  many  of  these  does  not  help  a 
man  to  qualify  for  the  position  of  agent. 

The  methods  used  by  these  agents  to  encourage 
emigration  are  most  ingenious  and  insidious.  Every 
possible  means  is  used  to  make  the  peasant  dissatisfied 
with  his  present  lot,  and  to  impress  him  with  the  glories 
and  joys  of  life  in  America.    Many,  perhaps  the  majority, 

'  Rept.  Imm.  Com.,  Steer.  Cond.,  p.  8. 


I50  IMMIGRATION 

of  the  agents  are  themselves  returned  immigrants,  who 
give  glittering  accounts  of  their  experiences  in  America, 
and  display  gold  watches,  diamond  pins,  and  various 
other  proofs  of  their  prosperity.  The  methods  of  to- 
day are  not  quite  so  crude  and  bizarre  as  they  used  to  be. 
The  stories  of  the  richness  of  America  and  the  ease  of  life 
there  which  used  to  be  current  were  so  overdrawn  as  to 
undeceive  any  but  the  most  ignorant  and  guUible. 
Immigrants  have  left  for  America  expecting  to  be  able 
to  pick  up  unlimited  dollars  lying  loose  in  the  streets,  and 
stories  are  told  of  steerage  passengers  who  threw  away 
the  cooking  utensils  they  had  brought  with  them,  as  the 
vessel  neared  New  York,  supposing  that  they  could  get 
a  new  lot  for  nothing  as  soon  as  they  landed.  A  better 
knowledge  of  actual  conditions  in  America,  which  now 
prevails  in  most  European  countries,  has  precluded  the 
continued  circulation  of  such  fictions  as  these.  In  fact, 
if  there  were  not  real  advantages  in  the  United  States, 
and  many  cases  of  successful  emigrants,  the  agents 
would  not  be  able  to  operate  successfully  for  an  indefinite 
time.  But  as  yet  there  does  exist  a  sufl&cient  difference 
between  conditions  in  the  new  world  and  in  the  old  to  give 
them  a  basis  of  truth,  which  they  may  embellish  as  oc- 
casion demands.  Many  of  these  agents  make  a  practice  of 
advancing  money  to  the  emigrants  to  pay  for  their  pas- 
sage, taking  a  mortgage  on  their  property  for  an  amount 
far  in  advance  of  that  actually  furnished.  These  debts 
are  met  with  a  strange  faithfulness  by  the  immigrants, 
even  when  they  have  been  woefully  deceived  and  cheated. 
In  Greece  it  is  asserted  that  the  agents  work  through 
the  priests,  and  thus  largely  increase  their  influence.^ 
Immigration  which  is  inspired  by  such  stimulation  as 

'  Caro,  L.,  Auswanderung  und  AuswandenmsspoHlik  in  Ostcrreich,  pp.  59~7i. 


THE    CAUSES   OF   IMMIGRATION  151 

this  is  far  from  being  so  desirable  as  that  wliich  is  natural 
and  spontaneous.  It  follows  no  natural  laws,  and  re- 
sponds to  no  economic  demand  in  this  country.  It  is 
likely  to  be  of  injury  rather  than  of  benefit  to  the  United 
States,  and  works  untold  injustice  to  the  immigrants. 
It  is  regarded  as  pernicious  by  all  fair-minded  observers, 
and  the  United  States  government  has  made  serious 
efforts  to  check  it.  This  is  the  purpose  of  the  clause 
in  the  immigration  law  limiting  the  nature  of  solicitation 
that  may  be  done  by  transportation  lines.  The  solicita- 
tion of  immigration  is  no  new  thing.  Hale,  in  his  Letters 
on  Irish  Immigration,  written  in  1851-1852,  said  that  com- 
petition between  the  different  lines  of  packets  and  differ- 
ent shipping  houses  had  made  the  means  of  emigration 
familiar  in  the  remotest  corners  of  Ireland,  and  that 
advertising  was  fully  utilized.  Professor  Mayo-Smith 
in  1892  wrote  that  the  Inman  Steamship  Company  had 
3500  agents  in  Europe  and  an  equal  number  in  the 
United  States  selling  prepaid  tickets.  In  Switzerland 
in  1885  there  were  400  licensed  emigration  agents.^ 
The  laws  passed  since  then  have  forced  the  agents  to 
proceed  more  cautiously,  and  conceal  their  activities. 
They  have  not  put  a  stop  to  their  operations. 

These  emigration  agents  are  by  no  means  all  accredited 
representatives  of  the  steamship  lines  over  which  they 
send  their  recruits.  There  are,  to  be  sure,  plenty  of 
official  agents  of  the  various  transportation  companies, 
who  are  openly  acknowledged  as  such.  The  region 
around  the  harbor,  in  many  of  the  Mediterranean  sea- 
ports, is  thronged  with  steamship  ticket  offices,  often 
flying  the  American  flag,  and  with  emigration  agencies, 
and  the  line  between  the  two  is  frequently  very  difficult 

•  Mayo-Smith,  R.,  Emigration  and  Immigraiion,  p.  46. 


152  IMMIGFL\TION 

to  draw.  But  the  traveling  agents,  or  "runners,"  are 
often  free  lances  as  far  as  appearances  go.  It  is  very 
hard  to  establish  any  connection  between  them  and  any 
transportation  company.  Yet  all  who  have  investigated 
the  subject  are  convinced  that  there  is  a  close  un- 
derstanding and  cooperation  between  the  two,  even  if 
there  is  no  ofhcial  relation.  It  is  contrary  to  human 
nature,  when  so  much  money  is  to  be  made  by  such  can- 
vassing, and  there  are  plenty  of  people  ready  to  do  it, 
that  the  transportation  companies  should  neglect  the 
opportunity.  On  this  subject  the  Immigration  Com- 
mission says,  "It  does  not  appear  that  the  steamship 
lines  as  a  rule  openly  direct  the  operations  of  these  agents, 
but  the  existence  of  the  propaganda  is  a  matter  of 
common  knowledge  in  the  emigrant-furnishing  countries, 
and,  it  is  fair  to  assume,  is  acquiesced  in,  if  not  stimu- 
lated, by  the  steamship  lines  as  well."  ^ 

The  Commissioner  General  of  Immigration  is  much 
more  emphatic  in  his  statements.  The  report  for  1909 
contains  the  following  passages  (p.  112)  :  "The  promoter 
is  usually  a  steamship  ticket  agent,  employed  on  a  com- 
mission basis,  or  a  professional  money  lender,  or  a 
combination  of  the  two.  .  .  .  He  is  employed  by  the 
steamship  lines,  large  and  small,  without  scruple,  and  to 
the  enormous  profit  of  such  lines.  ...  To  say  that  the 
steamship  lines  are  responsible,  directly  or  indirectly,  for 
this  unnatural  immigration  is  not  the  statement  of  a 
theory,  but  of  a  fact,  and  of  a  fact  that  sometimes  be- 
comes, indeed,  if  it  is  not  always,  a  crying  shame.  .  .  . 
[Referring  to  Contract  Labor  Inspector  John  Grucnberg] 
He  shows  quite  clearly  that  all  of  the  steamship  lines 

'  Rcpt.  Imm.  Com.,  Brief  Statement  of  Conclusions  and  Recommendations, 
p.  17. 


THE   CAUSES   OF  IMMIGRATION  153 

engaged  in  bringing  aliens  from  Europe  to  this  country 
have  persistently  and  systematically  violated  the  law, 
both  in  its  letter  and  spirit,  by  making  use  of  every 
possible  means  to  encourage  the  peasants  of  Europe  to 
purchase  tickets  over  their  lines  to  this  country.  They 
have  issued  circulars  and  advertisements,  and  made  use 
of  extensive  correspondence,  through  their  own  agents  in 
this  country  and  in  Europe." 

The  law  referred  to  is  Section  7  of  the  Act  of  1907,  re- 
peating in  substance  Section  4,  Act  of  1891  (p.  in).  The 
ease  and  persistency  with  which  this  provision,  carefully 
worded  as  it  is,  is  violated,  furnishes  a  striking  example 
of  the  difficulty  of  passing  statutes  which  shall  be  capable 
of  enforcement,  especially  in  foreign  countries,  to  put  a 
stop  to  practices  which  are  universally  conceded  to  be 
undesirable. 

The  second  great  source  of  stimulation  to  emigration 
is  the  labor  agent.  His  operations  are  extensive  and 
diversified,  and  always  in  direct  violation  of  the  contract 
labor  law.  That  section  of  the  immigration  statutes, 
as  previously  pointed  out,  is  so  swcepingly  drawn  as  to 
make  any  immigrant,  not  in  the  excepted  classes,  who  has 
received  the  slightest  intimation  that  there  is  work  await- 
ing him  in  this  country,  a  violator  of  the  law.  But  the 
economic  advantage  to  employers  in  this  country  of  im- 
porting European  labor  under  contract  to  perform 
services  in  the  United  States  at  much  less  than  the  market 
rate  of  wages,  is  so  great,  that,  as  in  the  previous  case, 
human  nature  cannot  resist  the  temptation,  provided 
the  chances  of  escaping  detection  are  sufficiently  good. 
And  this  part  of  the  law,  like  that  relating  to  advertising, 
is  of  such  a  nature  as  to  make  it  susceptible  of  continued 
and   extensive  evasion   by   unscrupulous  persons,   pos- 


154  IMMIGRATION 

sessed  of  such  skill  and  craftiness  as  characterize  the 
typical  contract  labor  agent.  While  there  is  no  way  of 
estimating  the  extent  of  this  practice,  there  is  no  doubt 
that  only  a  very  small  proportion  of  the  present  immigra- 
tion, from  the  Mediterranean  countries  at  least,  is  inno- 
cent of  the  letter  of  the  law,  strictly  interpreted.  This 
is  not  to  say  that  they  are  under  actual  contract  to  labor, 
but  that  their  coming  has  been  encouraged  by  some  sort 
of  intimation  that  there  would  be  work  awaiting  them. 

By  a  recent  opinion  of  the  Attorney- General,  two 
essential  points  have  been  laid  down  in  the  construction 
of  the  contract  labor  laws,  as  follows : 

"(i)  That  they  'prohibit  any  offer  or  promise  of 
employment  which  is  of  such  a  definite  character  that  an 
acceptance  thereof  would  constitute  a  contract.' 

"  (2)  That  the  prohibition  to  encourage  the  immigra- 
tion of  an  alien  by  a  promise  of  employment  is  '  directed 
against  a  promise  which  specially  designates  the  par- 
ticular job  or  work  or  employment  for  which  the  alien's 
labor  is  desired.'"  ^ 

Even  under  this  somewhat  liberal  interpretation  of  the 
laws,  wholesale  violations  undoubtedly  go  on.  In  the 
words  of  the  Immigration  Commission,  "In  this  way 
hundreds  of  immigrants  are  annually  debarred  at  United 
States  ports  as  contract  laborers,  while  doubtless  hun- 
dreds of  thousands  more  are  admitted  who  have  practi- 
cally definite  assurances  as  to  the  place  and  nature  of 
their  employment  in  this  country." 

A  fuller  description  of  contract  labor  in  general,  and 
of  that  particular  form  of  it  which  is  known  as  the  pa- 
drone system,  will  be  given  in  another  connection.  The 
point  to  be  emphasized  here  is  that  it  operates  as  one  of 

*  Rept.  Imm.  Com.,  Contract  Labor,  etc.,  Abs.,  p.  12. 


THE   CAUSES   OF  IMMIGRATION 


^:)o 


the  great  causes  of  our  present  immigration,  and  that  it 
continues  to  exert  a  powerful,  and  probably  increasing, 
influence,  in  spite  of  all  the  efforts  of  the  legislators  and 
officials  of  the  United  States  to  check  it. 
<^  The  third  source  of  stimulation  to  emigration  is  the 
'earlier  immigrant  himself.  He  is  probably  the  greatest 
factor  of  all  in  induced  immigration,  and  his  influence  is 
utilized  in  various  ways  by  both  emigration  agents  and 
labor  agents,  and  made  to  contribute  to  the  success  of 
their  efforts. 

Every  stream  of  immigration  must  have  its  origin 
in  some  few  individuals,  who,  the  first  of  their  region, 
break  the  ties  of  home  and  fatherland,  and  go  to  seek  their 
fortune  in  a  new  and  far-away  land.  Upon  their  success 
depends  the  question  whether  others  from  the  same  dis- 
trict shall  follow  in  their  footsteps.  If  they  fail  in  their 
venture,  it  serves  as  a  discouraging  factor  as  respects 
further  emigration  from  that  region.  But  if  they  suc- 
ceed, and  win  a  position  which  makes  them  envied  in  the 
eyes  of  their  fellow-countrymen,  it  furnishes  a  powerful 
stimulus  to  further  emigration.  Sooner  or  later,  there 
will  be  some  who  succeed  from  every  region,  and  the  ex- 
ample of  a  few  successful  ones  is  hkely  to  far  outweigh 
numerous  failures.  Something  like  this  is  going  on  in 
countless  remote  districts  of  the  south  European  coun- 
tries, and  has  gone  on  for  decades  in  every  country 
which  has  sent  us  numbers  of  immigrants. 

Take  a  typical  example.  Some  Slav  peasant,  in  a  httle 
village  of  Austria-Hungary,  of  a  more  ambitious  and 
adventurous  disposition  than  most  of  his  fellows,  hears 
of  the  opportunities  in  America,  and  being  dissatisfied 
with  his  present  lot,  decides  to  try  his  fortune  in  the  new 
world.     His  first  "job "is  in  a  mine  in  some  small  town 


156  IMMIGRATION 

of  Pennsylvania.  Accustomed  as  he  is  to  a  low  standard 
of  Living,  he  is  able  to  save  a  considerable  part  of  the 
wages  which  seem  mmiificent  to  him.  From  time  to 
time  he  writes  letters  home,  telling  of  his  prosperity. 
Eventually  he  saves  up  enough  to  purchase  a  little  store 
or  saloon.  Of  course  there  will  be  a  letter  telling  about 
that.  These  letters  are  wonderful  documents  in  the 
eyes  of  his  friends  and  relatives  at  home.  Correspond- 
ence does  not  flourish  in  these  regions,  and  the  receipt 
of  any  letter  is  a  matter  of  great  importance.  The  ar- 
rival of  a  message  from  across  the  sea  creates  an  im- 
pression which  it  is  almost  impossible  for  an  American  to 
comprehend.  The  precious  missive  is  read  aloud  in  the 
coffee-houses,  and  passed  from  hand  to  hand  throughout 
the  village.  It  may  even  travel  to  neighboring  hamlets, 
and  make  its  impression  there.  The  neighbor  in  America, 
and  his  career,  become  the  foremost  topic  of  conversation 
for  miles  around. 

In  time  all  this  has  its  effect.  A  small  group  of  the 
original  emigrant's  former  neighbors  resolve  to  try  their 
luck  too.  The  most  natural  thing,  of  course,  is  for  them 
to  go  to  the  place  where  their  friend  is.  He  helps  them 
to  find  work,  tides  them  over  difficulties,  and  in  various 
ways  makes  their  life  easier  and  simpler  than  his  had 
been.  Each  of  these  newcomers  also  writes  letters  home, 
which  go  through  the  same  round,  and  add  to  the  grow- 
ing knowledge  of  America,  and  the  discontent  with 
European  life  in  comparison.  Once  started,  the  move- 
ment grows  with  great  rapidity,  and  the  letters  from 
America  increase  in  geometrical  proportion.  Other 
nuclei  start  up  in  other  places,  recruits  are  drawn  from 
more  distant  villages,  and  the  first  little  trickling  stream 
becomes  a  swelling  tide. 


THE   CAUSES   OF   IMMIGRATION  157 

This  is  what  has  come  to  be  known  as  the  chain-letter 
system.  INIultipHed  by  hundreds  of  thousands,  the 
foregoing  example  serves  to  illustrate  the  irresistible 
network  of  communications  which  is  drawing  the  peas- 
ants of  Europe  to  every  part  of  the  United  States. 
This  is  recognized  by  all  authorities  as  probably  the  most 
powerful  single  factor  in  stirring  up  emigration  from 
such  countries  as  Italy,  Austria-Hungary,  Greece, 
Bulgaria,  etc.  Its  effect  has  been  graphically  described 
by  a  Greek  writer  in  the  following  words  : 

"'Such  a  one,  from  such  a  village,  sent  home  so  many 
dollars  within  a  year,'  is  heard  in  some  village  or  city, 
and  this  news,  passed  like  lightning  from  village  to  village 
and  from  city  to  city,  and  magnified  from  mouth  to 
mouth,  causes  the  farmer  to  forsake  his  plow,  the  shep- 
herd to  sell  his  sheep,  the  mechanic  to  throw  away  his 
tools,  the  small-grocer  to  break  up  his  store,  the  teacher 
to  forsake  his  rostrum,  and  all  to  hasten  to  provide 
passage  money,  so  that  they  may  embark,  if  possible, 
on  the  first  ship  for  America,  and  gather  up  the  dollars 
in  the  streets  before  they  are  all  gone."  ^ 

This  is  a  perfectly  natural  influence,  and  obviously 
beyond  the  power  of  any  legislation  to  check,  even  if  that 
were  desirable.  When  inspired  merely  by  a  friendly 
interest  in  the  home  neighbors,  a  desire  to  keep  in  touch 
with  them,  and  a  little  personal  vanity,  it  is  probably  the 
most  harmless  of  any  of  the  forms  of  stimulation.  When, 
as  all  too  frequently  happens,  the  underlying  motive  is 
sinister  and  selfish,  it  becomes  a  source  of  the  greatest 
deceit  and  injustice. 

When  the  pioneer  emigrant  returns  to  his  native 
village,  after  some  years  of  prosperous  life  in  America, 

•  Canoutas,  S.  G.,  Greek-American  Guide,  igog,  p.  39. 


158  IMMIGRATION 

his  influence  and  importance  are  unbounded.  He  be- 
comes in  truth  the  "observed  of  all  observers."  Groups 
of  interested  listeners  and  questioners  gather  round  him 
wherever  he  goes,  and  hang  on  his  words  in  breathless 
awe.  His  fine,  strange  clothes,  his  sparkling  jewelry 
and  gold  watch,  his  easy,  worldly  manners,  all  arouse 
the  greatest  admiration.  He  has  to  tell  over  and  over 
again  the  story  of  his  career,  and  describe  the  wonders 
of  that  far-away  land.  If  such  a  one  is  returning  to  the 
United  States,  it  takes  no  urging  on  his  part  to  induce  a 
number  of  his  countrymen  to  accompany  him ;  they  are 
fairly  clinging  to  the  skirts  of  his  garments,  to  be  taken 
back.  Even  if  he  has  come  home  to  remain,  his  constant 
example  is  there  to  inspire  the  youth  of  the  village  to 
follow  in  his  path.  So  the  "visit  home"  and  the  "re- 
turned immigrant"  add  their  weight  to  the  influence  of 
the  stream  of  letters.  How  universal  this  condition 
has  become  is  evidenced  by  the  fact  that  in  1909  only 
6.3  per  cent  of  all  the  immigrants  admitted  to  the  United 
States  were  not  going  to  join  either  relatives  or  friends, 
according  to  their  statement;  in  1910  the  percentage 
was  only  4.9.  In  1912  it  rose  to  7.5.  About  six  times 
as  many  go  to  join  relatives  as  friends. 

Many  of  the  letters  from  America  contain  remittances 
from  the  immigrants  to  their  friends  and  relatives  at  home. 
Often  these  remittances  take  the  form  of  prepaid  tickets,^ 
complete  from  some  European  center  or  port  to  the  city 
in  America,  where  the  sender  is  waiting.  Then  their 
influence  is  absolutely  irresistible.  The  transportation 
companies  make  every  effort  to  make  the  passage  as 
simple  as  possible,  and  railroad  companies  in  this  country 

1  These  prepaid  tickets  are  commonly  orders,  to  be  exchanged  by  the  trav- 
eler, in  Europe,  for  the  actual  certificate  of  transportation.  Cf.  Rept.  N.  Y. 
Com.  of  Imm.,  pp.  38  ff. 


THE   CAUSES   OF  IMMIGRATION  159 

make  special  immigrant  rates,  to  be  used  in  connection 
with  such  tickets.  A  large  part  of  the  induced  immigra- 
tion of  the  present  day  is  also  assisted  immigration.  It  is 
a  perfectly  natural  thing  that  an  immigrant  in  this  coun- 
try should  wish  to  be  joined  by  certain  of  his  relatives  on 
the  other  side,  and,  if  he  is  able,  should  send  them  the 
means  to  come.  This  has  always  been  done.  In  the 
middle  of  the  nineteenth  century  E.  E.  Hale  wrote  that  a 
large  part  of  the  letters  from  Irish  to  their  friends  in  this 
country  consisted  in  acknowledgments  of  remittances, 
and  requests  for  more.  The  remittances  in  1850  are 
said  to  have  amounted  to  about  four  and  one  half  million 
dollars.  Prepaid  tickets  were  also  in  use  at  that  date. 
It  is  manifestly  impossible  to  estimate  correctly  the 
extent  of  this  business  at  the  present  time.  According 
to  the  official  reports,  in  1910,  72.5  per  cent  of  the  immi- 
grants had  paid  for  their  own  tickets,  26.5  per  cent  had 
their  tickets  paid  for  by  a  relative,  and  i  per  cent  by 
some  one  other  than  self  or  relative.  But  this  showing 
rests  solely  upon  the  immigrant's  own  statement,  and  is 
undoubtedly  an  underestimate.  The  suspicion  of  immi- 
grants whose  passage  is  paid  for  them,  which  characterizes 
our  law,  leads  many  to  practice  deceit  in  this  matter. 
For  instance,  it  is  almost  impossible  to  believe  that  all 
but  5.4  per  cent  of  the  Greeks  had  paid  their  own  passage. 
An  examination  of  the  figures  shows  that  there  is  a  larger 
proportion  of  passages  paid  by  some  one  besides  the  immi- 
grant among  the  old  immigration  than  among  the  new. 
This  is  explained  by  the  fact  that  the  old  immigration 
has  more  of  a  family  character,  and  that  immigrants  are 
sending  for  wives  and  children.  This  can  be  understood 
only  by  comparison  with  the  sex  and  age  tables.^ 

•  See  pp.  192,  194. 


i6o  IMMIGRATION 

Even  when  these  remittances  are  not  in  the  form  of 
prepaid  tickets,  nor  are  even  intended  to  pay  passage 
in  any  way,  they  exert  a  powerful  influence  in  stirring  up 
immigration,  through  the  tangible  evidence  which  they 
furnish  of  American  possibihties.  There  could  be  no 
stronger  proof  of  the  success  of  immigrants  in  the  United 
States  than  the  constant  stream  of  gold  which  is  flowing 
from  this  country  to  Europe. 

For  the  sake  of  clearness,  these  different  forms  of 
stimulation  have  been  discussed  separately.  In  practice, 
they  overlap  and  combine  in  a  variety  of  comphcated 
relations.  The  emigration  agent  is  often  himself  a 
returned  immigrant ;  if  not,  he  utilizes  all  the  influences 
which  arise  from  the  letters,  visits,  and  remittances  of 
actual  immigrants  to  further  his  ends.  The  letters  from 
America  are  often  misleading  or  spurious,  used  by  labor 
agents  in  this  country  to  entice  others  to  come.  The 
prepaid  ticket  is  susceptible  of  a  wide  variety  of  uses. 
Assistance  to  emigrants  is  often  furnished,  not  by  well- 
disposed  friends  and  relatives,  but  by  loan-sharks,  whose 
motives  are  wholly  selfish,  and  whose  sole  aim  is  to  se- 
cure usurious  rates  of  interest  for  sums  advanced,  which 
are  amply  protected  by  mortgages. 

As  a  result  of  this  complex  of  motives  and  forces, 
America  has  become  a  household  word  even  to  the  remote 
corners  of  Europe,  and  he  who  wishes,  for  any  reason,  to 
stir  up  emigration  from  any  region  finds  a  fertile  field 
already  prepared  for  him.  It  is  amazing  to  find  how 
much  an  ignorant  Greek  peasant  knows  about  condi- 
tions in  America.  The  economic  situation  is,  of  course, 
the  prime  interest.  But  there  is  also  a  good  fund  of  in- 
formation about  social  and  poHtical  subjects.  There 
are  of  course  many  misconceptions  and  errors,  but  it  is 


THE   CAUSES   OF  IMMIGRATION  i6i 

e\ident  that  the  lines  of  communication  between  the 
European  village  and  the  American  city  are  very  well 
established.  Similar  conditions  prevail  in  all  the  immi- 
grant-furnishing countries. 

It  is  impossible  to  say  to  just  what  extent  our  present 
immigration  ought  to  be  classified  as  induced.  It  is 
probable  that  only  a  very  small  part  of  the  total  immigra- 
tion is  wholly  free  from  stimulation  to  some  degree. 
Certain  it  is  that  a  very  large  proportion  of  it  is  thoroughly 
artificial  and  induced.  The  getting  of  immigrants  is 
now  a  thoroughly  developed  system,  planned  to  serve  the 
needs  of  every  form  of  interest  which  might  profit  there- 
by.^ As  to  the  quality  of  such  immigration,  something 
has  already  been  said.  There  is  evidently  nothing 
about  the  immigrants  themselves,  or  the  way  in  which 
they  are  secured,  that  serves  as  a  guarantee  of  their 
serviceability  or  value  to  this  country ;  as  to  their  own 
prospects,  we  can  do  no  better  in-ctosifig  This  chapter 
than  to  quote  the  words  of  the  Commissioner  General ; 
these  various  operations  "often  result  in  placing  upon 
our  shores  large  numbers  of  ahens  who,  if  the  facts  were 
only  known  at  the  time,  are  worse  than  destitute,  are 
burdened  with  obligations  to  which  they  and  all  their 
relatives  are  parties,  —  debts  secured  with  mortgages  on 
such  small  holdings  as  they  and  their  relatives  possess, 
and  on  which  usurious  interest  must  be  paid.  Pitiable 
indeed  is  their  condition,  and  pitiable  it  must  remain  un- 
less good  fortune  accompanies  the  alien  while  he  is  strug- 
gling to  exist  and  is  denying  himself  the  necessaries  of 
decent  hving  in  order  to  clear  himself  of  the  incubus  of 
accumulated  debt.  If  he  secures  and  retains  employ- 
ment at  fair  wages,  escapes  the  wiles  of  that  large  class 

>  Sec  Whelpley,  Jas.  D.,  The  Problem  of  the  Immigrant,  p.  3. 
M 


1 62  IMMIGRATION 

of  aliens  living  here  who  prey  upon  their  ignorant  com- 
patriots, and  retains  his  health  under  often  adverse 
circumstances,  all  may  terminate  well  for  him  and  his; 
if  he  does  not,  disaster  is  the  result  to  him  and  them."  ^ 

*  Report,  1910,  p.  116. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE    EFFECTS    OF    IMMIGRATION.      CONDITIONS    OF 
EMBARKATION    AND    TRANSPORTATION 

It  was  remarked  in  an  earlier  paragraph  that  the 
effects  of  immigration  were  largely  a  matter  of  the  future. 
This  may  have  seemed  like  too  sweeping  a  statement. 
Yet  it  will  prove  true  upon  consideration.  In  the  case 
of  the  old  immigration  there  are,  to  be  sure,  certain  im- 
mediate and  superficial  effects  which  may  be  postulated 
with  a  fair  degree  of  certainty.  As  an  example,  we  may 
be  reasonably  sure  that  the  old  immigration  has  increased 
the  proportion  of  Irish,  German,  and  Scandinavian  blood 
in  the  composite  American  people.  But  as  to  the  ultimate 
effects  of  this  movement  upon  the  social,  religious, 
moral,  and  economic  aspects  of  our  national  hfe,  we  can, 
at  best,  hazard  only  a  forecast.  The  reason  is  that  the 
effects  have  not  transpired  as  yet. 

"One  of  the  commonest  errors  of  writers  on  sociologi- 
cal topics  is  to  allow  too  little  time  for  the  action  of  social 
forces.  We  are  inclined  to  think  that  the  effects  of  a 
certain  social  phenomenon,  which  we  are  able  to  detect 
in  our  hfetime,  are  the  permanent  and  final  effects. 
We  forget  that  these  matters  may  require  many  genera- 
tions to  work  themselves  out.  No  better  illustration  of 
this  could  be  asked  for  than  that  furnished  by  the  case 
of  the  negroes  in  the  United  States.  The  importation  of 
these    people    began    many   generations    ago.     To    our 

163 


1 64  IMMIGRATION 

ancestors  it  undoubtedly  seemed  a  perfectly  natural 
thing  to  do,  and  for  centuries  it  did  not  occur  to  any- 
body to  even  question  its  rightfulness  or  its  expediency. 
When  objections  began  to  be  raised,  they  were  feeble 
and  easily  put  aside.  But  at  last  the  presence  of  this 
peculiar  class  of  people  in  the  country  involved  the  nation 
in  a  terrible  and  bloody  conflict,  which  worked  irreparable 
injury  to  the  American  stock  by  the  annihilation  of  the 
flower  of  southern  manhood,  and  left  us  a  problem  which 
is  probably  the  greatest  one  before  the  American  people 
to-day  —  one  which  we  have  hardly  begun  to  solve. 
There  is  much  of  similarity  between  the  case  of  the  negroes 
and  that  of  the  modern  immigrants.  To  be  sure,  the 
newcomers  of  to-day  are  for  the  most  part  white-skinned, 
instead  of  colored,  which  gives  a  different  aspect  to  the 
matter.  Yet  in  the  mind  of  the  average  American,  the 
modern  immigrants  are  generally  regarded  as  inferior 
peoples  —  races  which  he  looks  down  on,  and  with  which 
he  does  not  wish  to  associate  on  terms  of  social  equality. 
Like  the  negroes,  they  are  brought  in  for  economic  reasons, 
to  do  the  hard  and  menial  work  to  which  an  American 
does  not  wish  to  stoop."  ^ 

Even  in  the  case  of  the  old  immigration,  then,  the 
effects  are  largely  in  the  future ;  in  the  case  of  the  new 
immigration  they  are  almost  wholly  so.  We  have  seen 
that  in  regard  to  racial  stock  the  new  immigration  has 
been  predominant  for  scarcely  half  a  generation.  There 
are  a  number  of  circumstances  besides  this  which  make 
the  immigration  problem  practically  a  new  one.  Cer- 
tain of  the  most  important  factors  which  condition 
it,  and  many  of  the  aspects  which  it  presents  to  the 

'Quoted  from  the  author's  book,  Greek  Immigration,  pp.  236-237.  Cf. 
Cooke-Taylor,  \V.,  The  Modern  Factory  System,  p.  419. 


THE   EFFECTS   OF   IMMIGRATION  165 

public  mind,  are  new  to  the  men  of  this  generation. 
The  verification  of  this  statement  is  to  be  found  in  the 
following  pages  ;  in  the  present  connection  it  must  suffice 
merely  to  suggest  the  circumstances  in  which  these 
differences  may  be  looked  for.  These  may  be  grouped 
under  six  main  heads,  as  follows :  (i)  the  racial  stock  of 
the  immigrants;  (2)  the  volume  of  the  immigration 
current ;  (3)  the  distribution  of  immigrants  in  the 
United  States ;  (4)  the  economic  conditions  of  this 
country ;  (5)  the  native  birth  rate ;  (6)  the  quality  of  the 
immigrants. 

If  the  effects  of  immigration  are  mainly  in  the  future, 
the  discussion  of  them  must  be,  for  the  most  part, 
theoretical.  It  is  a  discussion  of  something  which  is 
going  to  happen,  or  which  is  likely  to  happen,  not  of 
something  that  has  happened.  This  gives  it  an  element 
of  uncertainty  and  speculation  which  is  not  wholly 
desirable  in  a  scientific  study.  Yet  this  is  the  phase  of 
the  subject  which  is  by  far  the  most  interesting  and  im- 
portant to  the  average  American  citizen  who  wants  to 
know  how  this  great  sociological  phenomenon  is  going  to 
affect  him,  and  his  country,  and  his  relatives  and  friends. 
His  attitude  toward  the  question  will  depend  upon  what 
he  believes  these  effects  will  be.  If  it  appears  to  him 
that  immigration  will  benefit  himself,  his  country,  the 
immigrants,  or  humanity  in  general,  he  will  favor  it ;  if 
his  behef  is  to  the  contrary,  liis  attitude  will  be  one  of 
opposition.  Since  there  is  no  certainty  as  to  what  the 
effects  will  be,  the  arguments  about  immigration  are 
largely  composed  of  attempts  to  prove  that  certain 
effects  have  transpired,  or  to  demonstrate  that  they 
will  transpire.  As  a  consequence,  it  comes  about  that 
the  discussion  of  the  effects  of  immigration  practically 


1 66  IMMIGRATION 

resolves  itself  into  a  consideration  of  the  arguments 
for  and  against  immigration,  and  it  will  be  so  treated,  for 
the  most  part,  in  the  following  chapters. 

There  are  three  classes  of  effects  of  immigration  which 
may  be  clearly  distinguished,  and  which  will  interest 
different  persons  in  different  degrees.  These  are  the  ef- 
fects upon  the  United  States,  the  effects  upon  the  coun- 
tries of  source,  and  the  effects  upon  the  immigrants 
themselves.  The  second  and  third  of  these  interest  the 
American  citizen  only  as  he  is  open  to  broad  humanitarian 
considerations ;  the  first  touches  him  directly,  and  may 
have  an  intimate  bearing  on  his  personal  and  selfish 
interests  and  pursuits.  If  a  seemingly  disproportionate 
space  is  given  in  this  volume  to  effects  in  general,  and 
effects  upon  the  United  States  in  particular,  it  is  because 
this  is  the  vital  and  imperative  part  of  the  whole  sub- 
ject to  the  people  of  this  nation. 

Although  the  effects  of  immigration  are  largely  a 
matter  of  speculation  and  debate,  one  step  may  be  taken 
which  will  help  to  make  the  deductions  arrived  at  as 
rehable  as  is  possible  under  the  circumstances.  This  is 
a  careful  investigation  of  the  actual  conditions  which 
surround  immigration  at  the  present  time,  and  a  com- 
parison of  them  with  those  of  the  past.  Only  upon  a 
solid  basis  of  such  facts  can  any  trustworthy  predictions 
be  made  as  to  what  may  be  expected  to  come  about  in 
the  future.  Accordingly,  in  preparation  for  the  dis- 
cussion of  effects,  we  will  attempt  to  get  a  clear  picture 
of  the  circumstances  which  surround  the  immigrant  on 
his  journey  from  the  old  world  to  the  new ;  of  his  con- 
dition when  he  arrives ;  of  the  character  of  his  life  and 
labor  in  his  new  home.  In  general,  the  plan  followed 
will  be  to  take  up  each  set  of  conditions  in  turn,  and 


THE   EFFECTS   OF  IMMIGRATION  167 

having  ascertained  the  facts,  to  try  to  determine  what 
bearing  these  seem  likely  to  have  upon  the  final  effects 
of  immigration.  This  will  at  times  involve  a  departure 
from  the  strictly  logical  method  of  treatment,  but  this  is 
unavoidable  in  such  a  compUcated  discussion. 

With  the  sources  of  our  present  immigration  we  are 
already  familiar.  We  have  seen  how  they  have  shifted 
from  the  north  and  west  of  Europe  to  the  south  and  east. 
It  has  been  stated  that  the  movement  is  essentially  a 
European  one.  This  is  still  emphatically  true.  In 
191 2,  85.8  per  cent  of  all  our  immigrants  came  from 
Europe,  and  if  we  exclude  Turkey  in  Asia  (which  really 
is  a  part  of  Europe  in  the  ethnical  sense),  British  North 
America,  Mexico,  and  the  West  Indies,  there  is  very  little 
left  of  the  non-European  portion.  So  it  is  still  correct, 
for  all  important  purposes,  to  regard  immigration  to  the 
United  States  as  having  its  origin  in  Europe.  How 
long  this  win  continue,  it  is  of  course  impossible  to  say. 
There  are  vast  reservoirs  of  population  in  Asia,  to  say 
nothing  of  the  other  continents,  which  we  have  scarcely 
as  yet  tapped,  and  which  may  reach  the  point  of  emigra- 
tion with  advancing  civilization.  Whether  or  not  we  are 
to  receive  large  contingents  from  these  countries  in  the 
future  will  depend  largely  upon  the  attitude  of  our 
government.  So  far,  we  have  put  up  the  bars  before 
the  Chinese,  and  unless  they  are  lowered,  which  hardly 
seems  likely,  we  need  not  anticipate  any  considerable 
number  of  arrivals  of  this  race.  Up  to  1900  there  were 
only  a  comparatively  few  Japanese  in  this  country. 
Since  then,  the  rising  tide  of  immigration  from  Japan, 
which  threatened  to  reach  large  proportions,  has  been 
checked,  partly  by  *'a  series  of  measures  which  permits 
the  greater  part  of  the  administrative  problem  to  rest 


1 68  IMMIGRATION 

with  the  Japanese  government,"  ^  which  is  avowedly 
opposed  to  the  emigration  of  its  laboring  population, 
and  partly  by  a  presidential  order  from  the  White  House 
on  March  14,  1907,-  denying  admission  to  Japanese  and 
Korean  laborers,  who  had  received  passports  to  go  to 
Canada,  Mexico,  or  Hawaii,  and  were  using  them  to 
secure  admittance  to  continental  United  States.  While 
the  new  treaty  between  this  country  and  Japan  contains 
no  specific  prohibition  of  immigration,  it  is  understood 
that  the  Japanese  government  agrees  to  prevent  the 
emigration  of  laborers  from  that  country  to  this.  A  new 
problem  has  recently  appeared  in  the  Pacific  coast  states 
in  the  form  of  an  East  Indian  immigration.  The  mani- 
festly undesirable  character  of  this  immigration,  however, 
has  led  the  immigration  officials  in  the  Pacific  seaports 
to  apply  the  law  to  members  of  this  race  with  the  greatest 
strictness,  so  that  most,  if  not  all,  of  the  Hindu  laborers 
applying  for  admission  have  been  debarred  on  the 
grounds  of  belief  in  polygamy,  liability  to  become  a  pub- 
lic charge,  or  some  other  provision  of  the  statutes.  A 
similar  attitude  on  the  part  of  the  Canadian  immigration 
officials  has  been  of  assistance  in  stopping  at  the  outset 
what  might  have  grown  into  a  very  important  current 
of  immigration.^ 

Whatever  the  future  may  bring  forth,  then,  our  immi- 
gration at  present  springs  from  European  sources.^ 
Every  country  on  the  continent  furnishes  its  contingent, 

1  Rept.  Imm.  Com.,  Japanese  and  Other  Immigrant  Races,  etc.,  Abs.,  p.  46. 

*  Under  authority  conferred  by  Section  i  of  the  ImmiRration  Law  of  1907. 

'  Millis,  11.  A.,  "East  Inrlian  Immigration  to  British  Columbia  and  the 
Pacific  Coast  States,"  i4w.  Econ.  Rev.,  Vol.  I,  No.  i,  p.  72.  Rept.  Comm.  Gen. 
of  Imm.,  iQio,  p.  148. 

*  For  a  picturesque  description  of  "  The  Beginning  of  the  Trail "  the  reader  is 
referred  to  the  first  chapter  of  Professor  Steiner's  fascinating  book,  On  the  Trail 
of  the  Immigrant. 


THE   EFFECTS   OF  IMMIGRATION  169 

large  or  small.  From  the  cities,  towns,  and  villages, 
most  of  all  from  the  rural  sections,  even  to  the  most 
remote  corners  of  the  back  districts,  they  come,  inspired 
with  great  hopes  by  the  emigration  agents  and  the  labor 
contractors,  aided  by  friends  or  relatives  or  future  em- 
ployers on  the  other  side.  Homes  and  property  are 
mortgaged,  the  labor  of  their  bodies  —  even  their  very 
souls  —  are  pledged,  to  pay  their  passage.  Wives, 
children,  and  sweethearts  are  left  behind.  On  foot,  on 
donkey  back,  in  rude  carriages  and  wagons,  they  travel 
till  the  nearest  railroad  station  is  reached.  The  way  is 
made  as  easy  as  possible  for  them,  through  the  agency 
of  interested  parties,  who  profit  by  their  coming.  The 
prepaid  ticket  avoids  much  confusion  and  perplexity. 
Friends  are  awaiting  them  on  the  other  side.  In  every 
large  group  there  are  almost  certain  to  be  some  who  have 
been  over  the  road  before.  All  the  emigrant  needs  to  do 
is  to  allow  himself  to  be  passed  along  submissively  from 
one  stage  to  another  —  provided  he  has  the  money  to 
pay.  For  those  who  make  the  way  easy  must  have  an 
ample  recompense. 

As  the  seacoast  and  the  port  of  embarkation  draw 
near,  the  groups  of  emigrants  increase  in  size  by  constant 
additions.  In  the  important  emigration  ports  they  arrive 
by  thousands  during  the  busy  season.  The  provisions 
for  their  entertainment,  wliile  awaiting  the  sailing  of 
the  vessel  upon  which  they  are  to  embark,  differ  in 
different  ports.  In  many  ports  they  are  required  to 
put  up  in  the  cheap  hotels  and  lodging  houses,  which, 
in  such  cases,  abound  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  harbor. 
In  other  ports,  the  steamship  companies  maintain  ex- 
tensive emigrant  stations,  where  emigrants  are  lodged 
and  cared  for  while  awaiting  transportation.     Probably 


lyo  IMMIGRATION 

the  most  elaborate  of  these  is  the  emigrant  village  of  the 
Hamburg-American  Line,  at  Hamburg.  This  is  located 
on  the  left  bank  of  the  Elbe,  completely  segregated  from 
the  city,  and  is  designed  to  receive  only  immigrants  from 
countries  where  the  standard  of  health  is  low.  It  con- 
sists of  about  twenty-five  buildings,  and  accommodates 
5000  persons.  Among  the  buildings  are  a  large  inspec- 
tion building,  a  simple  hotel,  and  a  number  of  living 
pavilions,  each  consisting  of  a  dormitory,  Hving  room, 
baths,  etc.  There  is  one  large  dining  hall,  with  a  special 
section  for  Jews,  for  whom  also  a  separate  kitchen  is 
provided.  The  rehgious  needs  of  the  emigrants  are 
provided  for  by  a  synagogue,  a  Catholic  church,  and  a 
Protestant  church.^ 

The  provision  of  the  United  States  law,  which  requires 
an  examination  and  medical  inspection  at  the  port  of 
embarkation,  is  observed  with  different  degrees  of  care  in 
different  countries  and  by  different  lines.  It  is  to  the 
advantage  of  the  steamship  company  to  refuse  trans- 
portation to  any  individuals  who  are  manifestly  inad- 
missible to  the  United  States,  as  their  refusal  involves 
their  return  at  the  expense  of  the  company,  and  in  many 
instances  an  additional  fine  of  $100.  On  the  other  hand, 
if  there  is  a  fair  chance  that  the  immigrant  may  succeed 
in  passing  the  examination,  there  is  a  strong  temptation 
for  the  steamship  company  to  take  him,  for  the  sake  of 
his  passage  money.  There  is  a  practice,  believed  to  be 
quite  extensive,  among  the  transportation  companies, 
of  compelling  an  alien  who  seems  in  danger  of  being 
debarred,  to  deposit  with  the  foreign  agent  from  whom  he 
purchases  his  ticket  a  sum  sufficient  to  cover  the  cost  of 

'  Clapp,  Edwin  J.,  The  Port  of  Hamburg,  pp.  667-688;  Evans-Gordon,  o/». 
cit.,  Ch.  XIII. 


THE   EFFECTS   OF  IMMIGRATION  171 

his  return  in  case  he  is  refused  admission.  This  is  in 
direct  violation  of  the  United  States  law,  but  the  diffi- 
culty of  securing  evidence  has  prevented  the  authorities 
from  putting  an  effective  stop  to  the  practice.^  Large 
numbers  of  would-be  emigrants  are  nevertheless  turned 
back  before  embarkation,  as  a  result  of  the  examination 
by  the  steamship  company.  The  proportion  of  those 
detained  in  this  manner  to  those  debarred  at  the  ports 
of  arrival  in  the  United  States  is  at  least  four  to  one.^ 
Some  companies  have  had  such  a  bitter  experience  in  the 
matter  of  having  their  passengers  refused  as  to  lead  them 
to  exercise  great  caution.  The  Austro-American  Com- 
pany, which  carries  a  large  share  of  the  Greek  traffic, 
had  over  300  emigrants  refused  at  the  United  States 
port  on  one  of  their  early  voyages,  and  returned  to 
Europe.  Since  then,  they  have  adopted  the  system  of 
having  physicians  provided  for  their  forty  subagencies  in 
various  parts  of  Greece,  who  inspect  apphcants  for  tickets, 
and  pass  upon  them  before  any  document  is  issued  to 
them  by  the  agent.  If  this  physician  accepts  an  emi- 
grant, he  is  given  a  medical  certificate,  makes  a  deposit 
toward  his  ticket,  and  has  space  reserved  for  him  on  the 
steamer.  He  is  then  sent  on  to  the  port  of  embarkation, 
where  the  final  examination  takes  place. ^  In  this  way 
large  numbers  of  inadmissible  immigrants  are  kept  from 
leaving  their  native  village,  and  are  spared  the  ex- 
pense and  disappointment  of  the  trip  to  the  port  of 
embarkation. 

The  examination  at  the  port  of  embarkation  is  differ- 
ently conducted  at  different  seaports.  As  a  rule  the 
medical  examination  is  made  by  a  physician  employed 

•  Rept.  Com.  Gen.  of  Imm.,  igio,  p.  ii8. 

*  Rept.  Imm.  Com.,  Emig.  Cond.  in  Eur.,  Abs.,  p.  37.        *  Ibid.,  p.  38. 


172  IMMIGRATION 

by  the  steamship  company,  either  the  ship's  doctor,  or  a 
specially  engaged  physician.  But  at  some  ports  the 
American  consul  chooses  the  physician,  though  the 
steamship  company  pays  him.  At  Naples,  Palermo,  and 
Messina,  by  a  special  arrangement  between  the  two 
governments,  the  examination  is  made  by  officers  of 
the  United  States  Pubhc  Health  and  Marine  Hospital 
Service,  who  examine  steerage  passengers  and  recom- 
mend the  rejection  of  those  who  are  Hkely  to  be  refused 
admission  to  the  United  States.  Their  action  is  un- 
official, but  their  suggestions  are  always  comphed  with. 
Under  the  quarantine  law  of  the  United  States  the  Ameri- 
can consular  officers  are  also  required  to  satisfy  them- 
selves of  the  sanitary  condition  of  passengers  and  ships 
sailing  for  United  States  ports.  In  addition  to  the 
medical  examination,  a  long  list  of  questions  is  put  to 
the  immigrant,  in  accordance  with  the  requirements  of 
the  United  States  law.  His  answers  are  recorded  on  the 
manifest,  which  is  later  put  into  the  hands  of  the  in- 
specting officer  at  the  port  of  arrival,  who  repeats  the 
same  questions  and  notes  whether  the  answers  tally. 
Vaccination  and  the  disinfection  of  the  passenger's 
baggage  are  important  parts  of  the  preparation  of 
emigrants  for  the  journey  to  America.  The  differing  de- 
gree of  care  exercised  in  this  examination  at  the  differ- 
ent ports  is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  the  proportion 
of  immigrants  refused  at  the  port  of  arrival  for  medical 
causes,  to  the  total  number  embarked  from  the  different 
ports,  varies  from  i  to  163  at  the  Piraeus  and  i  to 
165  at  Bremen,  to  i  to  565  at  Antwerp  and  i  to  597 
at  Fiume. 

A  large  amount  of  transatlantic  traffic  passes  through 
Germany  from  neighboring  states,  and  to  protect  her- 


THE   EFFECTS   OF  IMMIGRATION  173 

self  against  having  large  numbers  of  foreign  emigrants 
refused  at  her  ports,  and  left  in  a  destitute  and  helpless 
condition  in  her  territory,  Germany  has  compelled  the 
steamship  companies  to  establish  control-stations  on  the 
German-Russian  and  German-Austrian  borders.  There 
are  fourteen  of  these  stations,  thirteen  on  the  frontier, 
and  one  near  Berlin.  All  emigrants  from  eastern  Europe 
who  are  intending  to  pass  through  German  territory  to 
ports  of  embarkation  are  examined  at  these  stations,  and 
those  who  do  not  comply  with  the  German  law,  or  who 
are  evidently  inadmissible  to  the  United  States,  are 
turned  back.  This  is  a  wise  and  humane  provision,  for 
the  condition  of  the  emigrant,  who,  having  spent  his  all 
to  pay  his  passage  to  America,  and  traveled  a  long  dis- 
tance to  the  seaboard,  finds  himself  refused  at  the  port 
of  embarkation,  is  often  pitiable  in  the  extreme.^ 

The  governments  of  most  European  countries  do  not 
regard  a  large  emigration  with  favor,  partly  because  of 
the  withdrawal  of  men  from  miUtary  service,  partly  be- 
cause of  the  economic  loss  resulting  from  the  departure 
of  so  large  a  part  of  the  laboring  class.  Most  of  them 
exercise  some  control  over  emigration,  and,  in  particular, 
endeavor  to  combat  the  activities  of  the  emigration 
agents,  which,  however,  they  are  as  powerless  to  check  as 
is  the  United  States.  Nevertheless,  there  is  practically 
no  effort  to  prohibit  emigration  altogether,  as  it  is  recog- 
nized as  a  natural  and  irresistible  movement.  Italy 
exercises  the  greatest  care  for  the  welfare  of  her  immi- 
grants of  any  European  nation. 

Practically  all  of  the  immigrants  who  are  crossing  for 

•  For  a  fuller  description  of  the  system  of  medical  examination,  see  the  Re- 
port of  the  Immigration  Commission,  Emig.  Cond.  in  Eur.,  Abs.,  pp.  35  ff-,  from 
which  many  of  the  above  facts  are  taken. 


174  IMMIGRATION 

the  first  time,  and  probably  a  majority  of  those  who  have 
made  the  trip  before,  travel  in  the  steerage.  The  second 
cabin  is  patronized  by  the  more  prosperous  of  the  immi- 
grants who  have  been  in  the  United  States  previously, 
and  by  others  who  know  themselves  to  be  inadmissible, 
and  hope  in  this  way  to  avoid  a  searching  inspection. 
The  great  bulk  of  the  emigrants,  however,  having  passed 
their  prehminary  examination,  flock  up  the  steerage 
gangway  into  the  ship  which  is  to  convey  them  to 
America.  At  the  top  of  the  ladder  stands  a  ship's  officer 
who  examines  their  tickets  and  their  certificates  of 
vaccination  (sometimes  a  Httle  purple  mark  stamped 
on  the  wrist),  and  in  certain  cases  searches  them  for  con- 
cealed weapons.  They  are  then  allowed  to  proceed  to 
the  interior  of  the  ship,  and  find  their  way  to  such  berths 
as  suit  their  fancy,  and  are  not  already  occupied,  within 
the  limits  of  the  section  of  the  ship  assigned  to  them. 
Steerages  are  usually  divided  into  three  compartments, 
more  or  less  completely  separated  from  each  other ; 
one  is  for  men  without  wives,  another  for  women  travel- 
ing alone,  and  the  third  for  families. 

Steerages  on  the  transatlantic  vessels  are  divided 
into  two  main  classes,  designated  by  the  Immigration 
Commission  as  the  old-type  or  old  steerage,  and  the  new- 
type  or  new  steerage.  The  former  class  predominates 
on  the  Mediterranean  lines  ;  the  latter  is  found  on  some 
of  the  better  ships  of  the  north  Atlantic  service.  Some 
ships  are  equipped  with  both  kinds.  The  old-type 
steerage  is  still  the  typical  one,  and  is  found  on  the  ma- 
jority of  vessels  bringing  immigrants  to  the  United  States. 
It  is  in  such  a  steerage  that  the  average  immigrant  gets 
his  first  introduction  to  America  —  for  everything  after 
he  leaves  the  port  of  embarkation  is  closely  identified 


THE   EFFECTS   OF  IMMIGRx\TION  175 

with  America  in  his  mind.  It  is  in  this  type  of  steerage 
that  the  student  of  immigration  is  primarily  interested. 

Steerages  of  this  type  all  bear  a  general  resemblance 
to  each  other,  and  once  seen  can  never  be  forgotten. 
Imagine  a  large  room,  perhaps  seven  feet  in  height,  ex- 
tending the  entire  breadth  of  the  ship,  and  about  one 
third  of  its  length.  The  floor  and  ceiling  are  some- 
times of  iron,  but  more  often  of  wood.  Through  the 
center  of  the  room,  very  probably,  descends  the  shaft 
to  the  hold.  This  room  is  filled  with  a  framework  of 
iron  pipes,  with  only  sufficient  space  left  to  serve  as 
aisles  or  passageways.  This  framework  is  so  con- 
structed as  to  form  a  series  of  berths  or  bunks,  adjoining 
each  other  laterally,  and  in  two  tiers  vertically.  The 
dimensions  of  these  berths  are  usually  about  six  feet  by 
two,  with  approximately  two  and  one  half  feet  between 
berths,  and  about  the  same  space  between  the  lower 
berth  and  the  deck  below,  and  the  upper  berth  and  the 
deck  above.  In  each  berth  a  network  of  strap  iron 
serves  for  the  support  of  a  coarse  mattress,  upon  which 
a  pillow  and  a  cheap  blanket  are  the  only  bedding. 
Often  a  life-preserver  takes  the  place  of  the  pillow. 
Thus  the  room  is  filled  with  a  double  layer  of  beds,  with 
only  space  enough  between  for  the  passengers  to  reach 
them.  On  some  of  the  older  ships  wooden  bunks  may 
still  be  found.  Such  a  room  will  sometimes  accommo- 
date as  many  as  three  hundred  passengers,  and  is 
duplicated  in  other  parts  of  the  ship,  and  on  the  suc- 
cessive decks  upon  which  immigrants  are  carried. 

In  their  provisions  for  steerage  passengers  most  trans- 
portation lines  aim  to  trim  as  close  to  the  minimum 
requirements  of  the  law  as  possible.  The  immigrant- 
carrying  business  is  a  purely  money-making  enterprise. 


176  IMMIGRATION 

and  humanitarian  considerations  have  no  place  in  it. 
The  good  effects  which  might  result  from  free  competi- 
tion are  practically  eliminated  by  the  recent  agreement 
dividing  territory,  which  has  been  mentioned  above. ^ 
There  is  no  other  force  to  compel  transportation  com- 
panies to  go  one  whit  beyond  the  legal  requirements  in 
an  effort  to  make  their  steerage  passengers  comfortable. 
The  open  deck  space  reserved  for  steerage  passengers 
is  usually  very  limited,  and  situated  in  the  worst  part 
of  the  ship,  subject  to  the  most  violent  motion,  to  the 
dirt  from  the  stacks  and  the  odors  from  the  hold  and 
galleys.  The  only  provisions  for  eating  are  frequently 
shelves  or  benches  along  the  sides  or  in  the  passageways 
of  sleeping  compartments.  Some  ships  have  separate 
rooms,  used  for  dining  and  recreation  purposes,  but  these 
are  usually  wholly  inadequate  to  accommodate  all  the 
steerage  passengers.  Frequently,  too,  they  are  planned 
without  the  least  regard  to  cleanliness,  as  when  the 
dining  table,  upon  which  the  dishes  remain  set,  is  placed 
directly  below  an  open  grating,  through  which  the  filth 
and  dirt  may  fall  from  the  shoes  of  passers-by.  Toilet 
rooms  are  wholly  inadequate  in  number,  are  poorly 
designed,  and  often  wholly  uncared  for  during  most  of 
the  voyage.  The  resulting  conditions  are  almost  un- 
believable. Toilets  are  sometimes  placed  directly  along- 
side the  only  passages  leading  to  the  steerage  quarters, 
so  that  one  must  pass  them,  and  breathe  their  horrible 
stench,  every  time  he  passes  in  or  out.  The  law  re- 
quires separate  wash  rooms  for  men  and  women,  but 
this  is  a  distinction  which  is  frequently  ignored,  men 
and  women  using  the  same  rooms  promiscuously.  The 
provisions   for  washing  are  wholly  inadequate.     There 

•  See  p.  149. 


THE   EFFECTS   OF  IMMIGRATION  177 

are  only  a  few  taps,  and  usually  the  only  water  provided 
is  cold  salt  water,  which  must  be  used  for  all  purposes, 
including  the  washing  of  dishes.  The  law  requires  that 
hospitals  for  steerage  passengers  be  provided,  but  as  they 
are  not  open  to  seasick  passengers,  they  fail  of  their 
greatest  usefulness. 

The  arrangements  for  feeding  steerage  passengers  difTer 
on  different  vessels,  but  there  are  two  main  systems. 
In  the  first,  each  passenger  is  furnished  a  cheap  set  of 
eating  utensils  at  the  beginning  of  the  voyage,  which 
remain  in  his  possession  till  the  close,  and  sometimes 
permanently.  At  meal  time  the  passengers  form  in 
line,  and  pass  before  stewards  who  have  large  kettles  of 
food,  and  serve  out  the  rations  to  each.  Passengers  may 
eat  at  tables  if  there  are  any  and  they  can  fmd  places ; 
otherwise,  wherever  they  can.  After  the  meal,  they 
must  wash  their  own  dishes,  and  stow  them  away  for 
future  use.  Under  the  second  system,  the  women  and 
children  receive  slightly  better  attention,  being  given 
first  place  at  such  tables  as  there  are.  The  most  es- 
sential utensils  are  placed  by  stewards,  and  washed  by 
them  afterwards.  The  food  is  served  in  large  pans,  one 
for  each  table,  which  are  passed  along  a  line  of  stewards 
from  the  galley,  in  the  manner  of  a  bucket  brigade. 
This  is  all  the  table  service  there  is.  The  men  receive 
even  less  attention.  They  are  divided  into  groups  of 
six,  and  each  group  is  given  two  large  tin  pans,  and  tin 
plates,  tin  cups,  and  cutlery  enough  for  all.  Each  man 
takes  his  turn  at  going  after  the  food,  and  in  caring  for 
the  dishes.     The  men  eat  wherever  they  can  find  a  place. 

Life  under  such  circumstances  must  of  necessity  be 
disgusting  and  degrading,  whatever  the  character  or 
desires  of  the  individual.     The  only  part  of  the  whole 


178  IMMIGRATION 

ship  which  the  steerage  passenger  has  a  right  to  call  in 
any  sense  his  own  is  the  few  square  feet  contained  in 
his  berth.  Here  he  must  keep  all  of  his  personal  belong- 
ings. His  hand  baggage  must  be  stored  in  it,  or  hung 
from  the  pipes  above  his  head.  If  there  are  eating 
utensils  committed  to  his  keeping,  they  must  be  con- 
cealed in  some  corner  of  the  bunk  when  not  in  use. 
This  is  the  only  place  to  which  he  may  retire  in  the 
search  of  even  the  semblance  of  privacy.  It  is  the  only 
place  where  he  can  recline  during  the  daytime,  except 
upon  the  open  deck.  The  berths  receive  absolutely  no 
attention  from  the  stewards  from  the  beginning  of  the 
voyage  to  the  end.  Is  it  any  wonder  that  they  become 
untidy,  mussed,  and  ill  smelUng?  The  blankets  pro- 
vided are  usually  wholly  inadequate  for  cold  weather, 
so  that  passengers  are  absolutely  compelled  to  sleep  in 
their  day  clothing  for  warmth. 

The  ventilation  of  the  steerage  is  almost  always  in- 
adequate, growing  worse  the  farther  down  one  goes. 
The  congestion  is  intense,  and  even  if  every  provision 
were  made  for  cleanliness,  the  air  would  inevitably  be- 
come foul.  Unfortunately  such  provision  is  not  made. 
There  are  no  sick-cans  provided  for  the  use  of  steerage 
passengers,  and  the  vomitings  of  the  seasick  are  allowed 
to  lie  unattended  to  for  hours.  Sometimes  a  steward 
comes  around  with  a  can  of  sawdust  or  sand,  but  that 
is  of  little  avail.  Add  to  this  the  odors  of  bodies  not 
too  clean,  the  reek  of  food,  and  the  awful  stench  of  the 
toilet  rooms,  and  the  atmosphere  of  the  steerage  becomes 
such  that  it  is  a  marvel  that  human  flesh  can  endure  it. 
It  is  a  fact  that  many  of  the  passengers  lie  in  their  berths 
for  the  greater  part  of  the  voyage,  in  a  stupor  caused  by 
breathing    the    vitiated    air,    indiff'erent    to    everything 


THE   EFFECTS   OF  IMMIGRATION  179 

around  them,  unless  it  be  to  their  meals.  If  one  attempts 
to  better  things  by  going  on  deck,  and  remains  above 
for  any  length  of  time,  he  finds  it  almost  impossible  to 
go  below  again.  There  are  practically  only  two  alter- 
natives ;  either  to  go  below  for  only  a  few  hours  of  sleep, 
and  spend  practically  all  the  time  on  deck,  or  to  spend 
all  the  time  below. 

Even  if  the  immigrants  desired  to  keep  personally  clean, 
there  is  practically  no  opportunity,  owing  to  the  inade- 
quacy of  the  wash  rooms,  the  absence  of  towels,  soap,  etc., 
and  the  absolute  lack  of  privacy.  Only  one  who  was 
trained  to  make  the  very  most  of  such  facilities  could 
maintain  his  decency  under  such  conditions ;  the  bulk 
of  the  immigrants  lack  even  the  elements  of  such  training. 

The  food  served  to  steerage  passengers  is,  according 
to  almost  all  investigators,  usually  sufficient  in  quantity, 
and  originally  of  good  quahty.  But  in  the  majority  of 
cases  it  is  so  poorly  cooked  and  served  in  such  an  un- 
appetizing way  as  to  render  it  most  unsatisfactory. 
An  average  menu  reads  very  well ;  it  is  only  when  one 
actually  undertakes  to  eat  the  food,  as  served  to  the 
immigrants,  that  the  real  quahty  appears.  There  is 
usually  a  canteen,  or  bar,  where  drmks,  candy,  fruit, 
etc.,  may  be  secured  by  those  who  can  pay  for  them,  and 
stewards  sometimes  turn  an  extra  penny  by  securing 
food  from  the  second  cabin  for  steerage  passengers  who 
make  the  arrangement  with  them. 

One  of  the  worst  conditions  prevailing  in  the  steerage, 
upon  which  the  investigators  of  the  Immigration  Com- 
mission lay  great  stress,  is  the  indecent  and  immoral 
attitude  and  conduct  of  the  men,  including  the  crew  as 
well  as  the  passengers,  toward  the  women.  The  stories 
which  are  told  of  the  constant  persecution  of  immigrant 


i8o  IMMIGRATION 

women,  —  unprovided  as  they  are  with  any  means  of 
privacy,  —  even  by  those  whose  duty  it  is  to  protect  them, 
are  almost  unbehevable,  but  are  well  substantiated.  As 
one  investigator  wrote,  only  a  set  of  instantaneous  photo- 
graphs could  give  an  adequate  idea  of  the  demoralizing 
attentions  to  which  women  and  girls  are  subjected,  until 
even  the  most  self-respecting  of  them  sometimes  weaken 
under  the  strain.  The  United  States  law,  of  course,  aims 
to  prevent  these  abuses,  but  it  is  powerless,  without 
better  machinery  for  enforcement  than  is  provided. 

All  of  these  conditions  are  naturally  aggravated  by 
crowding,  and  are  usually  more  pronounced  on  the  west- 
ward than  on  the  eastward  trip,  since  the  steerage  is 
ordinarily  more  congested  coming  to  the  United  States. 
It  is  a  marvel  that  even  the  ignorant,  uncultured,  stohd 
peasants  of  Europe  can  find  life  tolerable  under  such 
conditions.  Yet  they  do,  and  manage  to  get  some  en- 
joyment out  of  it  besides.  There  are  songs  and  games 
and  dances  to  while  away  the  time.  Especially  when 
the  ship  stops  at  any  intermediate  port  the  deck  throngs 
with  immigrants,  men,  women,  and  children,  seeking 
recreation  in  their  own  way. 

On  the  whole,  the  old-type  steerage  is  the  poorest 
possible  introduction  to,  and  preparation  for,  American 
life.  It  inevitably  lowers  the  standards  of  decency, 
even  of  the  immigrants,  and  often  breaks  down  their 
moral  and  physical  stamina.  It  shatters  their  bright 
visions  of  American  life,  and  lands  them  cynical  and  em- 
bittered. One  of  the  first  steps  in  the  improvement  of 
the  immigration  situation  should  be  the  abolition  of  the 
old-type  steerage. 

The  new-type  steerage,  which  is  found  on  some  lines 
carrying  immigrants  from  north  Europe,  was  the  result 


THE   EFFECTS   OF  IMMIGRATION  i8i 

of  competition  for  the  traffic,  which  led  certain  companies 
to  improve  their  facihties.  The  traffic  agreement  above 
referred  to,  by  eliminating  this  competition,  has  pre- 
vented the  extension  of  this  type  of  steerage  to  other 
lines,  and  other  ships.  In  general,  the  new-type  steerage 
is  a  modified  second  cabin,  with  simpler  and  plainer 
accommodations,  and  less  attendance.  Separate  state- 
rooms are  provided,  having  from  two  to  eight  berths  in 
each ;  in  some  cases  the  berths  are  of  the  old  steerage 
type.  The  blankets  are  adequate,  and  towels,  mirrors, 
etc.,  are  provided.  On  some  lines  the  stewards  are 
responsible  for  the  care  of  the  berths  and  staterooms. 
There  are  regular  dining  rooms,  properly  cared  for; 
the  food  is  abundant,  and  when  carefully  prepared,  of 
good  quaUty.  Facihties  for  washing  and  toilet  are 
superior  to  the  old  steerage,  and  greater  segregation  of 
the  sexes  is  secured.  The  air  is  still  bad,  but  not  so  ab- 
solutely intolerable,  and  most  of  the  flagrant  abuses  of  the 
old-type  steerage  are  avoided.  Old  and  new  steerages 
are  sometimes  found  on  the  same  vessel,  in  which  case 
the  latter  is  known  as  third  class.  The  difference  in 
price  between  the  two  does  not  at  all  correspond  to  the 
wide  difference  in  accommodations  ;  in  general,  the  price 
of  steerage  passage  is  much  nearer  to  that  of  second  cabin 
than  the  relative  service  would  seem  to  warrant.  This 
tends  to  disprove  the  claim  sometimes  made  that  the 
steamship  companies  cannot  afford  to  furnish  better 
accommodations  to  steerage  passengers  without  ma- 
terially raising  the  price,  as  does  the  fact  that  pas- 
sengers are  actually  being  carried  in  the  new-type 
steerage,  with  a  profit,   at  a  moderate  charge. 

Throughout    their    long    journey    from    their    native 
villages  to  the  portals  of  America,  the  immigrants  are 


i82  IMMIGRATION 

very  much  at  the  mercy  of  those  hito  whose  hands  they 
have  committed  themselves  for  transportation.  Their 
treatment  differs  with  different  companies,  but  all  too 
often  they  are  handled  hke  so  many  cattle,  or  even 
worse,  like  so  many  articles  of  inanimate  freight.^ 

The  Immigration  Commission  recommends  that  a 
law  be  passed  requiring  United  States  government 
officials,  both  men  and  women,  to  be  placed  on  all  ships 
carrying  third  class  or  steerage  passengers,  at  the  expense 
of  the  companies,  and  that  inspectors  in  the  guise  of  im- 
migrants should  occasionally  be  sent  across  in  the  steer- 
age. This  ought  certainly  to  bring  about  a  decided 
improvement  in  conditions,  for  at  present  there  is  no 
provision,  on  the  part  of  this  government,  for  enforcing 
the  steerage  laws,  or  looking  after  the  welfare  of  pas- 
sengers on  the  voyage.  Ships  are  subject  to  inspection 
after  they  arrive  in  port,  but  conditions  are  very  differ- 
ent then  from  what  they  are  in  mid-ocean.  As  the  ship 
approaches  shore,  toilet  rooms  and  wash  rooms  are  cleaned 
up,  disinfectants  are  used,  and  everything  is  made  to 
appear  more  proper  and  orderly.  That  such  super- 
vision and  inspection  is  capable  of  producing  beneficial 
results  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  on  ships  carrying  an 
Itahan  royal  commissioner,  conditions  are  very  much 
superior  to  those  on  others. 

1  For  fuller  accounts  of  the  steerage  and  life  therein,  see  Rept.  Imm.  Com., 
Steerage  Conditions ;  Steiner,  E.  A.,  Oh  the  Trail  of  the  Immigrant ;  Branden- 
burg, B.,  Imported  Americans,  Chs.  Ill,  XIV,  XV. 


CHAPTER  X 

INSPECTION.      SOCIAL    AND    ECONOMIC    CONDITIONS    OF 
ARRIVING     IMMIGRANTS 

The  immigrant  first  comes  under  the  official  control 
of  the  United  States  government  when  he  arrives  at  the 
port  of  destination.  There  are  a  number  of  seaports  on 
the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  coasts  designated  by  the  Bureau 
as  ports  of  entry  for  hnmigrants.  Entry  at  any  other 
ports  is  illegal.  The  facilities  for  the  inspection  and  care 
of  immigrants  differ  in  extent  in  the  dift'erent  ports  with 
the  demands  placed  upon  them,  but  the  general  line  of 
procedure  is  the  same  in  all.  As  New  York  has  the  most 
elaborate  and  complete  immigrant  station  in  the  country 
and  receives  three  quarters  or  more  of  all  the  immigrants, 
it  may  be  taken  as  typical  of  the  fullest  development  of 
our  inspection  system. 

A  ship  arriving  in  New  York  is  first  subject  to  exami- 
nation by  the  quarantine  officials.  Then  the  immigrants 
are  turned  over  to  the  officers  of  the  Immigration  Bureau. 
All  ahens  entering  a  port  of  the  United  States  are  sub- 
ject to  the  immigration  law,  and  have  to  submit  to  in- 
spection. First  or  second  class  passage  does  not,  con- 
trary to  a  common  impression,  secure  immunity.  Cabin 
passengers  are  given  a  preliminary  inspection  by  the 
officials  on  board  the  vessel,  and  if  they  are  plainly  ad- 
missible, they  are  allowed  to  land  without  further  for- 
mality. If  there  is  any  question  as  to  their  eligibility, 
they  are  taken  to  Ellis  Island,  and  subjected  to  a  closer 

183 


1 84  IMMIGR.A.TION 

examination.  While  there,  they  have  to  put  up  with  the 
same  accommodations  as  are  accorded  to  steerage  pas- 
sengers. During  three  months  of  the  spring  of  1910 
twenty-five  hundred  cabin  passengers  were  thus  taken 
over  to  Ellis  Island,  and  the  commissioner  in  charge  at 
that  port  was  led  to  recommend  that  better  faciHties 
be  provided  for  this  class  of  immigrants.^  This  recom- 
mendation was  repeated  in  191 2. 

The  steerage  passengers  are  loaded  on  to  barges, 
rented  by  the  steamship  companies,  and  transferred  to 
the  immigrant  station.  This  is  located  on  Elhs  Island, 
a  group  of  small  islands  in  the  harbor,  not  far  from  the 
Statue  of  Liberty.  It  consists  of  two  main  parts,  on  one 
of  which  is  located  the  main  building,  containing  offices, 
sleeping  rooms,  restaurant,  inspection  rooms,  ticket 
offices,  etc. ;  on  the  other  are  the  hospitals,  etc.  This 
temporary  disembarkment  does  not  constitute  a  legal 
landing;  the  immigrants  are  still  nominally  on  ship- 
board, and  the  transportation  companies  are  responsible 
for  their  support  until  they  are  legally  landed. 

After  landing  on  the  Island,  the  immigrants  pass 
through  a  detailed  process  of  examination,  during  which 
all  the  facts  required  by  the  statutes  are  ascertained 
and  recorded,  as  far  as  possible.  This  examination  con- 
sists of  three  main  parts.  The  first  is  the  medical  ex- 
amination made  by  officers  of  the  United  States  Public 
Health  and  Marine  Hospital  Service.  These  inspect 
the  immigrants  for  all  physical  weaknesses  or  diseases 
which  make  them  liable  to  exclusion.  The  next  stage 
is  the  examination  by  an  inspector  who  asks  the  long 
hst  of  questions  required  by  the  law,  in  order  to  deter- 
mine whether  the  alien  is,  for  any  nonphysical  reason, 

1  Rept.  Com.  Gen.  of  Imm.,  igio,  p.  135. 


ARRIVING   IMMIGRANTS  185 

inadmissible.  If  the  immigrant  appears  to  be  "clearly 
and  beyond  a  doubt"  entitled  to  admission,  he  passes 
on  to  the  discharging  quarters,  where  is  he  turned  over 
to  the  agents  of  the  appropriate  transportation  com- 
pany, or  to  a  "missionary,"  or  is  set  free  to  take  his  way 
to  the  city  by  the  ferry. 

If  any  ahen  is  not  clearly  entitled  to  admission,  he  must 
appear  before  a  board  of  special  inquiry,  which  goes  into 
his  case  more  deliberately  and  thoroughly,  in  order  to 
determine  whether  he  is  legally  admissible.  Appeal 
from  the  decision  of  these  boards,  in  cases  provided  for 
by  the  statutes,  may  be  made  either  by  the  ahen  or  by  a 
dissenting  member  of  the  board.  Such  appeal  goes 
through  the  Commissioner  and  the  Commissioner 
General  of  Immigration  to  the  Secretary  of  Commerce 
and  Labor,  whose  decision  is  final. 

Many  ahcns  must  of  necessity  be  detained  on  the 
Island,  either  during  investigation,  or,  in  case  they  are 
excluded,  while  awaiting  their  return  to  the  country 
from  which  they  came.  The  feeding  of  these  aUens, 
along  with  certain  other  services,  is  intrusted  to 
"privilege  holders,"  selected  carefully  by  government 
authority. 

The  volume  of  business  transacted  on  Ellis  Island 
each  year  is  immense.  There  are  in  all  about  six 
hundred  and  ten  officials,  including  ninety-five  medical 
ofiSccrs  and  hospital  attendants,  engaged  in  administer- 
ing the  law  at  this  station.  The  force  of  interpreters  is 
probably  the  largest  in  the  world,  gathered  under  a 
single  roof.  At  other  immigrant  stations  the  course  of 
procedure  follows  the  same  general  lines,  though  the 
amount  of  business  is  very  much  less.^ 

'  Cf.  Brandenburg,  B.,  Imported  Americans,  Chs.  XVII  and  XVTIT 


i86  IMMIGRATION 

This  is  obviously  one  of  the  most  difficult  and  delicate 
of  all  the  branches  of  government  service.  Questions 
involving  the  breaking  up  of  families,  the  annihilation 
of  long-cherished  plans,  and  a  host  of  other  intimate 
human  relations,  even  of  hfe  and  death  itself,  present 
themselves  in  a  steady  stream  before  the  inspectors. 
Every  instinct  of  humanity  argues  on  the  side  of  leni- 
ency to  the  ignorant,  stoHd,  abused,  and  deceived  immi- 
grant. On  the  other  hand,  the  inspector  knows  that  he 
is  placed  as  a  guardian  of  the  safety  and  welfare  of  his 
country.  He  is  charged  with  the  execution  of  an  in- 
tricate and  iron-bound  set  of  laws  and  regulations,  into 
which  his  personal  feehngs  and  incHnations  must  not  be 
allowed  to  enter.  Any  lapse  into  too  great  leniency  is  a 
betrayal  of  his  trust.  One  who  has  not  actually  reviewed 
the  cases  can  have  no  conception  of  the  intricacy  of  the 
problems  which  are  constantly  brought  up  for  decision. 

Is  it  surprising  that  the  casual  and  tender-hearted 
visitor  who  leans  over  the  balcony  raihng  or  strolls 
through  the  passages,  blissfully  ignorant  of  the  laws  and 
of  the  meaning  of  the  whole  procedure,  should  think 
that  he  detects  instances  of  brutality  and  hard-hearted- 
ness  ?  To  him,  the  immigrants  are  a  crowd  of  poor  but 
ambitious  foreigners,  who  have  left  all  for  the  sake  of 
sharing  in  the  glories  of  American  life,  and  are  now  being 
ruthlessly  and  inconsiderately  turned  back  at  the  very 
door  by  a  lot  of  cruel  and  indifferent  officials.  He 
writes  a  letter  to  his  home  paper,  telling  of  the 
"Brutahty  at  Elhs  Island."  Even  worse  than  these 
ignorant  and  sentimental  critics  are  those  clever  and 
malicious  writers  who,  inspired  by  the  transportation 
companies  or  other  selfish  interests,  paint  distorted, 
misleading,  and  exaggerated  pictures  of  affairs  on  Ellis 


ARRIVING  IMMIGRANTS  187 

Island,  and  to  serve  their  own  ends  strive  to  bring  into 
disrepute  government  officials  who  are  conscientiously 
doing  their  best  to  perform  a  most  difficult  pubhc  duty.^ 

It  would  not  be  safe  to  say  that  there  never  has  been 
any  brutahty  on  Ellis  Island,  or  that  there  is  none  now. 
Investigators  of  some  reputation  have  given  specific  in- 
stances.^ It  would  be  almost  beyond  the  realm  of  possi- 
bility that  in  so  large  a  number  of  officials,  coming  in 
daily  contact  with  thousands  of  immigrants,  there 
should  be  none  who  were  careless,  irritable,  impatient, 
or  vicious.  How  much  of  maltreatment  there  may  be 
depends  very  largely  upon  the  character  and  competency 
of  the  commissioner  in  charge.  The  point  is,  that  no 
one  is  qualified  to  pass  an  opinion  upon  the  treatment 
of  immigrants,  except  a  thoroughly  trained  investi- 
gator, equipped  with  a  full  knowledge  of  the  laws  and 
regulations,  and  an  unbiased  mind. 

One  thing  in  particular  which  impresses  the  dilettante 
observer  is  the  haste  with  which  proceedings  are  con- 
ducted, and  the  physical  force  which  is  frequently  em- 
ployed to  push  an  immigrant  in  one  direction,  or  hold 
him  back  from  another.  It  must  be  admitted  that 
both  of  these  exist  —  and  they  are  necessary.  During 
the  year  1907  five  thousand  was  fixed  as  the  maximum 
number  of  immigrants  who  could  be  examined  at  ElHs 
Island  in  one  day ;  ^  yet  during  the  spring  of  that  year 
more  than  fifteen  thousand  immigrants  arrived  at  the 
port  of  New  York  in  a  single  day.  It  is  evident  that 
under  such  conditions  haste  becomes  a  necessity. 

The  work  has  to  be  done  with  the  equipment  provided, 
and  greater  hardship  may  sometimes  be  caused  by  delay 

'  Sec  an  editorial  in  the  New  York  Evening  Journal,  May  2.\,  igii. 

'  Brandenburg,  op.  cit.,  p.  214.  '  Rept.  Com.  Gen.  of  Imm.,  1007,  p.  77. 


1 88  IMMIGRATION 

than  by  haste.  As  to  the  physical  handhng  of  immi- 
grants, this  is  necessitated  by  the  need  for  haste,  com- 
bined with  the  condition  of  the  immigrants.  We  have 
seen  that  the  conditions  of  the  voyage  are  not  calculated 
to  land  the  immigrant  in  an  alert  and  clear-headed  state. 
The  bustle,  confusion,  rush,  and  size  of  Ellis  Island 
complete  the  work,  and  leave  the  average  alien  in  a  state 
of  stupor  and  bewilderment.  He  is  in  no  condition  to 
understand  or  appreciate  a  carefully  worded  explanation 
of  what  he  must  do,  or  why  he  must  do  it,  even  if  the  in- 
spector had  time  to  give  it.  The  one  suggestion  which 
is  immediately  comprehensible  to  him  is  a  pull  or  a  push ; 
if  this  is  not  administered  with  actual  violence,  there 
is  no  unkindness  in  it.  An  amusing  illustration  of  the 
dazed  state  in  which  the  average  immigrant  goes  through 
the  inspection  is  furnished  by  a  story  told  by  one  of 
the  officials  on  the  Island.  It  is  related  that  President 
Roosevelt  once  visited  the  Island,  in  company  with  other 
distinguished  citizens.  He  wished  to  observe  the  effect 
of  a  gift  of  money  on  an  immigrant  woman,  and  fearing 
to  be  recognized,  handed  a  five-dollar  gold  piece  to 
another  member  of  the  party,  requesting  him  to  hand  it 
to  the  first  woman  with  a  child  in  her  arms  who  passed 
along  the  line.  It  was  done.  The  woman  took  the  coin, 
slipped  it  into  her  dress,  and  passed  on,  without  even 
raising  her  eyes  or  giving  the  shghtest  indication  that 
the  incident  had  made  any  different  impression  on  her 
than  any  of  the  regular  steps  in  the  inspection.  It 
would  be  a  remarkable  man,  indeed,  who  could  deal  with 
a  steady  stream  of  foreigners,  stolid  and  unresponsive  to 
begin  with  and  reduced  to  such  a  pitch  of  stupor,  day 
after  day,  without  occasionally  losing  his  patience. 
The  information   collected   at   the  port  of   entry  is 


ARRIVING   IMMIGRANTS  189 

sufficient,  when  compiled  and  tabulated,  to  give  a  very 
complete  and  detailed  picture  of  the  character  of  the  ar- 
riving immigrants,  in  so  far  as  that  can  be  statistically 
portrayed.  The  reports  of  the  Commissioner  General 
contain  an  elaborate  set  of  tables,  which  are  the  principal 
source  of  accurate  information  on  the  subject.  In  the 
following  pages  these  tables  will  be  summarized,  with  the 
intent  of  bringing  out  the  most  important  facts  which 
condition  the  immigration  problem  in  this  country. 
Data  from  other  reliable  sources  will  be  added  as  occasion 
requires. 

During  the  period  1820  to  191 2  a  total  of  29,611,052 
immigrants  have  entered  the  United  States.  Of  these, 
the  Germans  have  made  up  a  larger  proportion  than  any 
other  single  race,  amounting  in  all  to  5,400,899  persons 
from  the  German  Empire.  Until  very  recently  the  Irish 
have  stood  second ;  but  as  far  as  can  be  determined 
from  the  figures  the  Italians  and  natives  of  Austria- 
Hungary  have  now  passed  them.  There  have  been,  in 
the  period  mentioned,  3,511,730  immigrants  from  Aus- 
tria-Hungary, 3,426,070  immigrants  from  Italy,  includ- 
ing Sicily  and  Sardinia,  and  3,069,625  from  Ireland. 
But  if  the  1,945,812  immigrants  from  the  United  King- 
dom not  specified  could  be  properly  assigned,  it  would 
probably  appear  that  Ireland  could  still  lay  claim  to 
second  place.  The  other  most  important  sources,  with 
their  respective  contributions,  are  as  follows :  Russian 
Empire,  2,680,525;  England,  2,264,284;  British  North 
American  possessions,  1,322,085;  Sweden,  ^  1,09 5, 940.^ 
When  it  is  considered  how  recent  is  the  origin  of  the  im- 

'  Rept.  Imm.  Com.,  Statistical  Review,  Abs.,  p.  ly,  and  Rcpt.  Comr.  Gen. 
of  Imm.,  1912,  pp.  68,  129.  The  fiRure.s  of  the  Commission  do  not  tally  in  all 
respects  with  those  given  in  the  annual  Reports. 


ipo  IMMIGRATION 

migration  from  Italy,  Russia,  and  Austria-Hungary, 
the  significance  of  these  figures  becomes  apparent.  The 
figures  for  a  single  recent  year  show  very  dift'erent  pro- 
portions. Thus  in  the  year  1907,  28.2  per  cent  of  the 
total  European  immigration  came  from  Austria-Hungary, 
23.8  per  cent  from  Italy, ^  and  21.6  per  cent  from  the 
Russian  Empire,  while  only  3.2  per  cent  came  from  the 
German  Empire,  1.7  per  cent  from  Sweden,  2.9  per 
cent  from  Ireland,  and  4.7  per  cent  from  England.^ 
What  the  ultimate  effect  of  this  sweeping  change  in 
nationality  will  be  it  is  impossible  to  predict  with  any 
certainty;  it  is  one  of  the  greatest  of  all  the  prob- 
lems connected  with  immigration,  and  can  better  be 
discussed  in  another  connection.  Suffice  it  to  say  for 
the  present,  that  it  has  put  an  entirely  new  face  on 
the  question  of  the  assimilation  of  the  unmigrant  in 
this  country. 

In  regard  to  the  sex  of  the  immigrants,  the  males 
have  always  had  the  predominance.  During  the  period 
from  1820  to  1910,  63.8  per  cent  of  the  immigrants  were 
males,  and  36.2  per  cent  females.^  This  is  what  might 
naturally  be  expected.  The  first  emigration  from  a 
region  is  almost  always  an  emigration  of  men.  They 
have  the  necessary  hardihood  and  daring  to  a  greater 
extent  than  women,  and  are  better  fitted  by  nature  for 
the  work  of  pioneering.  After  the  current  of  emigration 
becomes  well  established,  women  are  found  joining  in. 
Early  emigrants  send  for  their  families,  young  men  send 
for  their  sweethearts,  and  even  some  single  women  venture 
to  go  to  a  country  where  there  are  friends  and  relatives. 

'  Figures  for  Italy,  unless  otherwise  specified,  include  Sicily  and  Sardinia. 
2  Kept.  Imm.  Com.,  Emig.  Cond.  in  Eur.,  Abs.,  p.  g. 
^ Ibid.,  Stat.  Rev.,  Abs.,  p.  ii. 


ARRIVING   IMMIGRANTS  191 

But  in  the  majority  of  cases  the  number  of  males  con- 
tinues to  exceed  that  of  females.  In  the  long  run,  there 
will  be  a  greater  proportion  of  men  than  of  women, 
because  of  the  natural  differences  of  the  sexes.  In  this 
respect,  however,  there  has  also  been  a  change  in  recent 
years.  The  proportion  of  males  is  considerably  larger 
among  the  new  immigrants  than  among  the  old.  In 
the  decade  1 820-1 830,  when  immigration  was  still  in 
its  beginning,  there  was  a  large  proportion  of  males, 
amounting  to  70  per  cent  of  the  total.  In  the  decades 
of  the  forties  and  fifties,  however,  the  proportion  of 
males  fell  to  59.5  per  cent  and  58  per  cent,  respectively. 
But  in  the  decade  ending  1910,  69.8  per  cent  of  all  the 
immigrants  were  males.  There  is  a  general  tendency 
for  the  proportion  of  males  to  rise  in  a  year  of  large  im- 
migration, and  fall  as  immigration  diminishes.  This 
can  be  traced  with  a  remarkable  degree  of  regularity 
throughout  the  modern  period.  It  is  well  exemplified 
in  the  last  six  years.  In  the  year  1907,  when  the  total 
immigration  reached  its  highest  record,  the  proportion 
of  males  also  reached  the  highest  point  since  1830,  72.4 
per  cent.  After  the  crisis  of  that  year  the  total  immigra- 
tion fell  off  decidedly,  and  in  1908  the  proportion  of 
males  was  only  64.8  per  cent.  In  the  next  year  the  per- 
centage of  males  rose  to  69.2,  while  the  total  immigration 
decreased  slightly ;  but  since  the  net  gain  by  immigration 
increased  in  that  year,^  this  is  not  a  serious  exception  to 
the  rule.  In  1910  the  total  immigration  again  showed  a 
marked  increase,  and  the  percentage  of  males  rose  to 
70.7.^  In  1911  there  was  another  marked  decHne  in  im- 
migration and  the  percentage  of  males  fell  to  64.9,  while 
a  further  slight  decline  in  191 2  was  accompanied  by  a 

*  See  page  128.  *  Rcpt.  Imm.  Com.,  Stat.  Rev.,  Abs.,  pp.  9,  10,  11. 


192 


IMMIGRATION 


fall  in  the  percentage  of  males  to  63.2.^  This  phenomenon 
is  undoubtedly  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  the  men 
come  in  more  direct  response  to  the  economic  demands 
of  this  country  than  the  women,  and  hence  respond  to 
economic  fluctuations  more  readily.  Many  of  the  female 
immigrants  come  to  join  men  who  have  established  them- 
selves on  a  footing  of  fair  prosperity  in  this  country,  and 
are  able  to  have  them  come  even  in  a  year  of  hard  times. 
An  examination  of  the  sex  distribution  of  some  of  the 
leading  races  shows  how  thoroughly  characteristic  of  the 
new  mimigration  this  excess  of  males  is.  The  following 
table  shows  the  percentages  of  the  two  sexes  of  certain 
chosen  races  for  the  eleven-year  period  1899  to  1909  : 

SEX   DISTRIBUTION   OF   IMMIGRANTS  OF  SPECIFIED 
RACES,    BY    PER    CENTS,    1899    TO    1909 


Race  or  Peopie 


Bulgarian,  Servian,  Montenegrin 
Croatian  and  Slovenian     .     .     . 

English 

German       

Greek 

Hebrew 

Irish        

Italian,  north 

ItaHan,  south  

Lithuanian 

Magyar 

Polish 

Ruthenian 

Scandinavian 

Slovak 


Per 

Cent 

Male 

Female 

q6.o 

4.0 

85.1 

14.9 

61.7 

38.3 

59-4 

40.6 

95-4 

4.6 

56.7 

43-3 

47.2 

52.8 

78.4 

21.6 

78.6 

21.4 

71.1 

28.9 

72.7 

27-3 

69.2 

30.8 

74.0 

26.0 

61.3 

38.7 

703 

29.7 

'  Repts.  Comr.  Gen.  of  Iram.,  1911,  1912. 


ARRIVING   IMMIGRANTS  193 

Comparing  the  entire  old  immigration  for  the  period 
specified  with  the  entire  new  immigration  (European 
only),  we  find  that  of  the  former  58.5  per  cent  were  male 
and  41.5  per  cent  female ;  of  the  latter  73  per  cent  were 
male,  and  27  per  cent  female.^  It  is  evident  that  the 
new  immigration  is  in  no  sense  an  immigration  of  fami- 
lies, but  of  men,  either  single  men,  or  married  men  who 
have  left  their  wives  on  the  other  side.  This  is  due  in 
part  to  the  very  fact  that  it  is  a  new  immigration,  partly 
to  the  fact  that  it  is,  to  such  a  large  degree,  temporary 
or  provisional.  An  immigrant  who  expects  to  return 
to  his  native  land  after  a  few  years  in  America  is  more 
likely  to  leave  his  wife  behind  him  than  one  who  bids 
farewell  to  his  old  home  forever.  The  typical  old  immi- 
grant, when  he  has  secured  his  competency,  sends  for 
his  wife  to  come  and  join  him  ;  the  typical  new  immigrant, 
under  the  same  circumstances,  in  many  cases  returns 
to  his  native  land  to  spend  the  remainder  of  his  days  in 
the  enjoyment  of  his  accumulated  wealth.  The  only 
exception  to  this  rule  is  that  furnished  by  the  Hebrews, 
among  whom  the  sexes  are  nearly  equally  distributed. 
This  is  one  of  the  many  respects  in  which  they  stand 
apart  from  the  rest  of  the  new  immigration.  The  only 
race  in  which  the  female  immigrants  exceed  the  males 
is  the  Irish,  and  this  has  been  the  case  only  within  recent 
years.  During  the  years  of  the  great  Irish  immigration 
the  males  predominated. 

The  matter  of  sex  is  one  of  the  greatest  importance  to 
the  United  States.  It  is  one  thing  to  have  foreign  fami- 
lies coming  nere  to  cast  in  their  lots  with  this  nation 
permanently ;  it  is  quite  another  to  have  large  groups  of 
males  coming  over,  either  with  the  expectation  of  re- 

'  Rept.  Imm.  Com.,  Emig.  Cond.  in  Eur.,  .\bs.,  p.  13. 
o 


194  IMMIGRATION 

turning  ultimately  to  their  native  land,  or  of  living  in 
this  country  without  family  connections,  for  an  indefinite 
number  of  years.  Such  groups  form  an  unnatural 
element  in  our  population,  and  alter  the  problem  of 
assimilation  very  considerably.  They  are  wilhng  to  work 
for  a  lower  wage  than  if  they  were  trying  to  support 
famihes  in  this  country,  and  are  not  nearly  so  Hkely  to 
be  brought  into  touch  with  the  molding  forces  of  Ameri- 
can Hfe  as  are  foreign  family  groups.  Their  habits  of 
life,  as  will  appear  later,^  are  abnormal,  and  tend  to 
result  in  depreciated  morals  and  physique.  Many  of 
the  most  unfortunate  conditions  surrounding  the  present 
immigration  situation  may  be  traced  to  this  great  pre- 
ponderance of  males. 

The  one  thing  that  can  be  said  in  favor  of  this  state  of 
affairs  is  that  such  a  group  of  immigrants  furnishes  a 
larger  number  of  workers  than  one  more  evenly  dis- 
tributed between  the  sexes.  This  is  an  argument  which 
will  appeal  to  many ;  but  to  many  others,  who  have  the 
best  welfare  of  the  country  at  heart,  it  will  appear  wholly 
inadequate  to  offset  the  serious  disadvantages  which 
result  from  the  situation.  The  Immigration  Commission 
expresses  its  opinion  that,  in  the  effort  to  reduce  the 
oversupply  of  unskilled  labor  in  this  country  by  restrict- 
ing immigration,  special  discrimination  should  be  made 
against  men  unaccompanied  by  wives  or  children.^ 

In  regard  to  the  age  of  immigrants  the  most  striking 
fact  is  that  the  great  bulk  of  them  are  in  the  middle  age 
groups.  In  the  year  191 2  the  distribution  of  the  total 
immigration  among  the  different  age  groups  was  as 
follows  :  under  fourteen  years,  13.6  per  cent ;  fourteen  to 
forty-four  years,   80.9  per  cent;    forty-five  years  and 

>  See  page  247.  *  Rept.  Imm.  Com.,  Brief  Statement,  p.  39. 


ARRIVING   IMMIGRANTS 


195 


over,  5.5  per  cent.  In  the  total  population  of  the  United 
States  the  respective  percentages  in  these  groups  are 
about  30,  51,  and  19.  There  is  only  a  slight  difference 
in  this  respect  between  the  new  and  the  old  immigration. 
Of  the  total  European  immigration  for  the  years  1899  to 
1909,  the  old  immigration  had  12.8  per  cent  in  the  first 
age  group,  80.4  per  cent  in  the  second,  and  6.8  per  cent 
in  the  third;  the  new  immigration  had  12.2  per  cent  in 
the  first,  83.5  per  cent  in  the  second,  and  4.3  per  cent 
in  the  third. ^  There  is,  however,  a  very  marked  differ- 
ence between  the  races.  This  will  be  brought  out  by  the 
following  table,  which  shows  the  age  distribution  of  cer- 
tain selected  races,  for  the  year  1910: 

DISTRIBUTION  OF  IMMIGRANTS  OF  SPECIFIED 
RACES  AMONG  THE  AGE  GROUPS,  BY  PER 
CENTS,    1910 


Age,  Per  Cent 

Race  or  People 

Under  14 
Years 

14  to  44  Years 

45  Years  and 
Over 

Croatian  and  Slovenian  . 

German 

Greek 

Hebrew 

Irish 

Italian,  south 

PoUsh 

4-7 

17.0 

2.6 

25-9 

7-4 
10.4 

7-6 

91.0 

75-9 
96.0 
67.9 
88.3 
83.5 
89.7 

3-3 

7-1 

1.4 
6.2 

4-3 
6.1 

2.7 

Here,  again,  the  Hebrews  appear  as  an  exception  to 
the  general  rule  as  regards  the  new  immigration  and,  in 
this  case,  as  regards  the  total  immigration. 

The  showing  in  regard  to  age  substantiates  the  ob- 


'  Ibid;  Emig,  ConcJ.  in  Eur.,  .Xbs.,  p.  14. 


196  IMMIGRATION 

servation  already  made  that  our  modern  immigration  is 
in  no  sense  an  immigration  of  families.  This,  too, 
affects  the  chances  for  assimilation  very  considerably. 
As  regards  the  economic  efficiency  of  the  immigrants, 
the  age  distribution,  added  to  the  sex  distribution,  marks 
them  as  a  selected  group.  When  it  is  further  considered 
that  the  physically  and  mentally  feeble,  and  those  who 
are  unlikely  to  be  able  to  earn  their  own  living  are  weeded 
out  in  the  process  of  inspection,  it  appears  that  those  who 
look  upon  the  immigrant  as  nothing  more  than  a  source 
of  cheap  labor  have  much  reason  to  be  pleased  with  the 
quahty  of  our  immigration.  The  productive  power  of  a 
group  of  immigrants  averages  very  much  higher  than  a 
corresponding  number  of  persons  taken  from  the  general 
population  of  the  race  from  which  they  come. 

Herein  lies  perhaps  the  greatest  and  most  popular 
argument  for  immigration.  It  is  claimed  that  without 
our  foreign  laboring  force  it  would  have  been  impossible 
to  develop  the  resources  of  the  country  so  rapidly  and 
completely  as  they  have  been  developed,  and  that  if  the 
supply  were  cut  off  now,  it  would  seriously  cripple  the 
entire  industry  of  the  country.  It  is  certainly  true  that 
under  the  present  organization  of  industry  in  this  country, 
production  in  many  lines  depends  to  a  very  important 
degree  upon  foreign  labor.  How  much  of  truth  there  is 
in  the  deduction  that  without  the  immigrants  this 
country  would  be  much  farther  back  in  the  industrial 
race  than  it  is  to-day,  will  be  considered  in  another  con- 
nection.^ 

There  are  many  citizens  of  the  United  States,  however, 
who  look  upon  the  immigrant  as  something  more  than 
a  mere  productive  machine.       To   them    the  proof  of 

*  See  page  341. 


ARRIVING   IMMIGRANTS  197 

his  economic  efficiency  is  not  sufficient.  They  wish  to 
know  something  of  his  adaptability  to  assimilation  into 
the  American  life,  and  of  his  probable  contribution  to  the 
ethnic  type  of  the  United  States.  To  such  as  these,  there 
are  a  number  of  further  conditions  which  must  be  consid- 
ered, and  which  are  of  at  least  equal  significance  in  deter- 
mining the  final  effects  of  immigration  upon  this  country. 

Prominent  among  these  is  the  intellectual  quality  of 
the  immigrant.  This  is  naturally  a  very  difficult  thing 
to  measure.  Beyond  actual  feeble-mindedness,  the  only 
test  of  intellectual  capacity  which  has  received  wide 
application  is  the  literacy  —  or,  as  it  is  more  frequently 
expressed,  the  illiteracy  —  test.  This  concerns  the 
ability  to  read  and  write,  and  is  given  a  great  deal  of 
weight  by  many  students  of  the  subject.  It  is  not,  how- 
ever, necessarily  an  indication  of  intellectual  capacity, 
but  rather  of  education.  The  inability  to  read  or  write 
may  be  due  to  lack  of  early  opportunity,  rather  than  to 
inferior  mental  caliber.  Nevertheless,  the  matter  of 
literacy  has  received  sufficient  attention,  and  is  in  fact 
of  sufficient  importance,  so  that  it  is  desirable  to  have 
the  facts  in  this  respect  before  us. 

Two  forms  of  illiteracy  are  recognized  by  the  immi- 
gration authorities,  inability  to  either  read  or  write, 
and  inability  to  write  coupled  with  ability  to  read. 
The  latter  class  is  a  very  small  one,  and  for  all  practical 
purposes  those  who  are  spoken  of  as  illiterates  are  those 
who  can  neither  read  nor  write.  For  the  period  of  1899- 
1909  the  average  illiteracy  of  all  European  immigrants 
fourteen  years  of  age  or  over  was  26.6  per  cent.  There  is 
a  marked  difference  between  the  old  and  new  immigrants 
in  this  respect.  Of  the  former  class,  during  the  period 
mentioned,  only  2.7  per  cent  of  the  immigrants  fourteen 


198 


IMMIGRATION 


years  of  age  or  over  was  illiterate ;  of  the  latter  class, 
35.6  per  cent.  The  same  difference  is  brought  out  by 
the  following  table,  showing  the  ilHteracy  of  certain 
specified  races : 

PERCENTAGE  OF  ILLITERACY  ^  OF  IMMIGRANTS  OF 
THE  SPECIFIED  RACES,  14  YEARS  OF  AGE  OR 
OVER,  FOR  THE  YEARS  1899  TO  1909  ^ 


Race  or  People 

Per  Cent 

Race  or  People                      Per  Cent 

Scandinavian 

.        0.4 

Greek 27.0 

English     .     .     . 

I.I 

Roumanian      ...      .34.7 

Irish     .... 

.        2.7 

PoHsh 35.4 

German     .     .     . 

•       S-i 

Croatian  and  Slovenian  .     36.4 

Italian,  north     . 

.     11.8 

Italian,  south  .      .     .      .     54.2 

Magyar     .     .     . 

.     11.4 

Portuguese 68.2 

Hebrew     .     .     . 

•    25.7 

Where  there  is  such  a  marked  difference  between  races 
as  is  exhibited  in  the  foregoing  table,  it  seems  fair  to 
assume  that  there  is  a  corresponding  difference  in  the 
intellectual  condition  of  the  respective  peoples  —  if 
not  in  their  potential  capacity,  at  least  in  the  actual 
mental  equipment  of  the  immigrants  themselves.^  In 
fact,  it  is  quite  customary  to  take  the  degree  of  illiter- 
acy as  a  reasonable  index  of  the  desirability  of  a  given 
stream  of  immigration.  There  seems  to  be  considerable 
basis  for  this  idea,  for  it  appears  probable  that  an  im- 
migrant who  has  had  the  ability  and  the  opportunity 
to  secure,  in  his  home  land,  such  a  degree  of  education 
as  is  indicated  by  the  ability  to  read  and  write,  is  better 
equipped  for  adapting  himself  to  life  in  a  new  country 
than  one  who  has  not.  On  the  other  hand,  there  is  con- 
siderable testimony  to  the  effect  that  the  immigrants 

'  Those  who  can  neither  read  nor  write. 
2  Rept.  Imm.  Com.,  Emig.  Cond.  in  Eur.,  Abs.,  p.  17. 

■>  The  per  cent  of  illiteracy  in  the  general  population  of  the  United  States,  ten 
years  of  age  or  over,  is  10.7. 


ARRIVING   IMMIGRANTS  199 

who  have  the  hardest  time  to  get  along  in  this  country- 
are  those  who  have  a  moderate  degree  of  education,  book- 
keepers, mediocre  musicians,  clerks,  etc.  They  are 
either  unable  or  unwilKng  to  do  the  menial  work  which 
their  less  educated  countrymen  perform,  and  are  not 
able  to  compete  with  persons  trained  in  this  country  in 
the  occupations  which  they  followed  at  home.  There 
are  relatively  few  of  the  occupations  into  which  the 
typical  immigrant  of  to-day  goes,  and  for  which  he  is 
encouraged  to  come  to  this  country,  in  which  the  ability 
to  read  and  write  adds  to  the  efficiency  of  the  worker 
to  any  considerable  degree.  It  is  possible  that  the  abihty 
to  read  and  write  may  hasten  the  process  of  assimilation 
somewhat ;  it  is  questionable  whether  it  adds  appreciably 
to  the  economic  fitness  of  the  immigrant  for  life  in  this 
country. 

The  question  of  literacy  as  a  test  of  immigrants  has 
received  a  large  amount  of  attention  recently  through 
its  inclusion  in  the  proposed  immigration  bill  which 
barely  failed  of  becoming  a  law  early  in  the  year  1913. 
This  bill  was  the  result  of  the  investigations  of  the 
Immigration  Commission,  and  embodied  several  of  the 
recommendations  of  that  body.  The  one  upon  wliich 
most  of  the  opposition  was  centered  was  a  clause  pro- 
viding a  reading  test  for  adult  aliens.  There  were 
certain  exceptions  to  the  rule,  however,  so  that  in  its 
actual  application  the  exclusion  would  have  been  limited 
almost  wholly  to  adult  males.  The  bill  passed  both 
houses  of  Congress,  but  was  vetoed  by  the  President, 
after  a  careful  and  judicial  consideration.  The  Senate 
promptly  passed  the  bill  over  the  veto,  but  a  similar 
action  in  the  House  failed  by  the  narrow  margin  of  half 
a  dozen  votes. 


200  IMMIGRATION 

The  agitation  for  a  literacy  test  rests  upon  two  main 
groups  of  arguments.  The  first  class  includes  the  efforts 
to  show  that  literacy,  in  itself,  is  a  desirable  quahfication 
for  citizenship,  economically,  socially,  and  pohtically. 
The  second  group  rests  on  the  belief  that  the  total  num- 
ber of  immigrants  ought  to  be  cut  down,  and  that  a  literacy 
test  is  a  good  way  to  accomplish  the  result.  It  is  not 
unlikely  that  this  latter  set  of  opinions  predominated  over 
the  former  in  the  minds  of  the  adherents  of  the  proposed 
measure,  though  it  was  not  necessarily  expressed  openly. 
And  there  is  much  to  be  said  in  favor  of  the  literacy  test 
from  this  point  of  view.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  a  per- 
fectly definite  and  comprehensible  test,  which  could  be 
applied  by  the  immigrant  to  himself  before  he  left  his 
native  village.  In  the  second  place,  it  is  a  test  which 
any  normal  alien  could  prepare  himself  to  meet  if  he 
were  willing  to  make  the  effort.  It  does  not  seem  too 
much  to  require  of  one  who  wishes  to  become  a  member 
of  the  American  body  politic,  that  he  take  the  pains  to 
equip  himself  with  the  rudiments  of  an  education  before 
presenting  himself.  Finally,  as  Miss  Claghorn  has 
pointed  out,^  it  is  a  test  which  would  react  favorably 
upon  the  immigrant  himself.  It  is  impossible  to  tell,  as 
noted  above,  just  how  much  value  attaches  to  literacy 
in  the  effort  of  the  alien  to  maintain  himself  in  this 
country.  Yet  without  doubt  there  is  some  advantage. 
And  perhaps  there  would  be  even  more  in  the  strength- 
ening of  character  and  purpose  which  would  result  from 
the  effort  to  attain  it.  A  glance  at  the  preceding  table 
will  show  which  of  the  immigrant  races,  as  the  immigra- 
tion stream  is  now  constituted,  would  be  most  affected 
by  such  a  test.     But  it  is  not  at  all  impossible  that  the 

1  Claghorn,  Kate  H.,  "  The  Immigration  Bill,"  The  Survey,  Feb.  8,  1913. 


ARRIVING   IMMIGRANTS 


20I 


passage  of  a  literacy  test  by  this  government  would 
have  the  effect  of  materially  stimulating  the  progress 
of  education  in  some  of  the  more  backward  countries 
of  Europe. 

This  tendency  to  illiteracy  on  the  part  of  immigrants 
is  apparently  well  overcome  in  the  second  generation,  for 
among  the  employees  in  manufacturing  studied  by  the 
Immigration  Commission  the  percentage  of  illiteracy 
was  lower  among  the  native-born  descendants  of  foreign 
fathers  than  among  the  native-born  of  native  fathers.^ 

In  the  year  1910  information  was  collected  for  the 
first  time  in  regard  to  the  conjugal  condition  of  immi- 
grants. The  figures  on  this  point  are  summarized  in 
the  following  table,  which  gives  the  percentages  of  each 
sex,  in  the  different  age  groups,  who  are  in  the  different 
classifications  as  to  conjugal  condition. 

CONJUGAL  CONDITION  OF  IMMIGRANTS,   1910 


PERCENTAGES 

Sex 

14  TO  44  Years' 

45  Yeaks  and  Over 

Single 

Married 

Widowed 

Divorced 

Single 

Married 

Widowed 

Divorced 

Male      . 
Female  . 

55-3 
57-7 

44.2 

39-9 

0.5 
2-3 

a 
a 

5-2 

6.6 

86.8 
52.8 

7-9 
40-5 

a 

O.I 

'All  the  immigrants  under  14  were  single,  with  the  exception  of  one  female. 
"  Less  than  one  tenth  of  i  per  cent. 

This  table  furnishes  further  verification  of  the  fact 
that  our  present  immigration  is  in  no  sense  an  immigra- 
tion of  families.  More  than  half  of  all  the  immigrants 
fourteen  years  of  age  or  over,  of  both  sexes,  are  single. 

'  Rept.  Imm.  Com.,  Immigrants  in  Manufacturing  and  Mining,  .\bs.,  p.  105. 


202  IMMIGRATION 

This  affects  the  problem  of  assimilation  very  deeply. 
One  of  the  greatest  forces  for  Americanization  in  im- 
migrant families  is  the  growing  children.  Where  these 
are  absent,  the  adults  have  much  less  contact  with  as- 
similating influences.  If  there  was  a  large  degree  of 
intermarriage  between  these  single  immigrants  and 
native  Americans,  the  aspect  of  the  case  would  be  very 
difterent ;   but  thus  far,  this  is  not  the  case. 

Much  has  been  said  and  written  about  the  absolute 
economic  gain  to  tliis  country  through  immigration. 
It  is  pointed  out  that  each  year  an  army  of  able-bodied 
laborers,  in  the  prime  of  life,  is  added  to  our  working 
force.  To  the  expense  of  their  rearing  we  have  contrib- 
uted nothing ;  they  come  to  us  as  a  free  gift  from  the 
nations  of  Europe.  Various  efforts  have  been  made  to 
estimate  the  actual  cash  value  of  these  alien  laborers. 
Professor  Mayo-Smith  enumerates  three  different  ways 
of  attacking  the  problem.  The  first  is  by  estimating 
the  cost  of  bringing  up  the  immigrant,  up  to  the  time 
of  his  arrival  in  the  United  States.  The  second  is  by 
estimating  his  value  as  if  he  were  a  slave.  The  third  is 
by  estimating  the  amount  of  wealth  he  will  contribute  to 
the  community  before  he  dies,  minus  the  cost  of  his 
maintenance  —  in  other  words,  his  net  earnings.^ 

The  lack  of  uniformity  in  the  results  obtained  by 
different  methods  and  by  different  investigators  gives 
weight  to  the  opinion  that  it  is,  after  all,  a  rather  fruitless 
undertaking.  To  estimate  the  monetary  value  of  a 
man  seems  to  be,  as  yet,  too  much  for  economic  science. 

There  is  one  economic  contribution,  however,  which 
the  immigrants  make  to  this  country  which  is  capable  of 
fairly  accurate  measurement.     This  is  the  amount  of 

'  Mayo-Smith,  R.,  Emigration  and  Immigration,  pp.  104  ff. 


ARRIVING   IMMIGR.\NTS 


203 


money  which  they  bring  with  them  when  they  come. 
For  many  years  immigrants  have  been  compelled  to 
show  the  amount  of  money  in  their  possession,  and  this 
information  has  been  recorded,  and  incorporated  in  the 
annual  reports.  Up  to  1904,  immigrants  were  divided 
into  those  showing  less  than  $30  and  those  showing 
that  amount  or  more.  In  that  year  this  dividing  line 
was  raised  to  $50.  The  total  amount  of  money  shown 
is  also  given.  Thus  it  is  possible  to  estimate  the  average 
amount  of  money  shown  by  the  immigrants  of  different 
races,  and  also  to  ascertain  what  proportion  of  them 
showed  above  or  below  the  specified  amount.  Un- 
fortunately for  the  conclusiveness  of  the  statistics,  im- 
migrants very  commonly  do  not  show  all  the  money  in 
their  possession,  but  only  so  much  as  they  think  is  neces- 
sary to  secure  their  admission.  So  the  total  amount  of 
money  shown  does  not  represent  the  total  amount 
brought  in ;  all  that  can  be  positively  stated  is  that 
at  least  so  much  was  brought  in. 

In  1909  the  total  amount  of  money  shown  was  $17,331,- 
828;  in  1910,  $28,197,745;  in  1911,  $29,411,488;  and 
in  191 2,  $30,353,721.  The  average  per  capita  showings 
of  the  European  immigrants  for  the  period  1905  to  1909 
was  as  follows  :  ^ 


Average  per  CAPrrA 

Class 

Based  on  Total 
Coining 

Based  on  Total 
Showing 

Old  immigration 

New  immigration 

839-90 
IS-83 

S55-2O 
20. OQ 

Total 

$22.47 

$30-14 

*  Rept.  Imm.  Com.,  Emig.  Cond.  in  Eur.,  Abs.,  p.  20. 


204  IMMIGRATION 

Those  not  showing  money  were  for  the  most  part  chil- 
dren and  other  dependents.  This  shows  how  baseless  is 
the  impression,  quite  prevalent  among  Americans  and 
aliens  alike,  that  a  certain  specified  amount  of  money  is 
necessary  to  secure  admission  to  this  country.  Thirty 
dollars  or  fifty  dollars  are  the  amounts  commonly  men- 
tioned. But  since  the  average  based  on  the  total  number 
showing  money  is  barely  over  thirty  dollars,  it  is  plain 
that  there  must  be  a  large  number  showing  less  than 
thirty  dollars.  In  fact,  some  races,  as,  for  instance,  the 
Pohsh,  Lithuanians,  and  south  Itahans,  have  an  average 
of  from  twenty  to  twenty-five  dollars  for  all  showing 
money.  There  is  no  monetary  requirement  for  admis- 
sion to  the  United  States.  While  the  possession  of  a 
certain  amount  of  money  is  considered  to  add  to  the 
probability  of  an  immigrant  being  able  to  support  him- 
self without  becoming  a  public  charge,  a  sturdy  laborer 
with  ten  dollars  in  his  pocket  is  more  likely  to  secure  ad- 
mission than  a  decrepit  old  man  with  a  good-sized  bank 
account. 

Against  these  large  amounts  of  money  brought  in  by 
immigrants,  which  represent  a  net  gain  to  the  total  wealth 
of  the  country,  must  be  set  off  the  enormous  amounts  of 
money  annually  sent  abroad  by  alien  residents  of  the 
United  States.  Various  eflforts  have  been  made  to  esti- 
mate these  sums.  The  best  is  probably  that  of  the 
Immigration  Commission  which  sets  the  figure  at  a 
total  of  $275,000,000  for  the  year  1907,  which  was  a 
prosperous  year.^ 

The  following  table  gives  the  distribution  of  immi- 
grants among  the  different  classes  of  occupations. 

1  Rept.  Imm.  Com.,  Immigrant  Banks,  p.  69. 


ARRIVING  IMMIGRANTS  205 

OCCUPATION  OF  EUROPEAN  IMMIGRANTS  FOR  THE 
YEARS   1S98   TO   1909,   PERCENTAGES  ^ 

Occupation                       Per  Cent  Occupation                     Per  Cent 

Professional  .      .     .      .      i.o  Common  laborers      .      .     27.8 

Skilled  laborers .      .      .     15.2  Servants 10.8 

Farm  laborers    .     .      .     15.7  Miscellaneous       .     .      .       2.1 

Farmers i.o  No  occupation  ^    .     .     .     26.4 

These  figures  are  taken  from  the  statements  of  the 
immigrants  themselves,  and  represent,  in  so  far  as  they 
are  correct,  the  economic  position  of  the  immigrant  in 
the  country  from  which  he  came.  They  are  i^ot  a  reUable 
indication  of  the  occupation  into  which  he  gdes  in  this 
country. 

It  is  evident  that  the  great  majority  of  the  immigrants 
belong  in  general  to  the  unskilled  labor  class.  This  is 
the  class  of  labor  for  which  there  is  a  special  demand  in 
this  country,  and  for  which  the  immigrants  are  desired. 
At  the  same  time,  as  Professor  Commons  has  pointed 
out,^  there  is  also  a  considerable  demand  for  skilled 
artisans  in  this  country,  as  the  pecuHar  conditions  of 
American  industry  prevent  the  training  of  a  sufficient 
number  of  all-round  mechanics  at  home.  This  demand 
is  also  met  from  European  sources.  There  is  a  great 
difference  in  this  respect  between  the  different  races."* 
For  instance,  29.8  per  cent  of  the  English  immigrants 
were  skilled  laborers,  37.9  per  cent  of  the  Scotch,  and 
35.2  per  cent  of  the  Welsh,  while  only  4.7  per  cent  of  the 
Croatians  and  Slovenians,  2.7  per  cent  of  the  Rouma- 
nians, 1.8  per  cent  of  the  Ruthcnians,  and  3.5  per  cent  of 

*  Ibid.,  KmiR.  Cond.  in  Eur.,  Abs.,  p.  15.        '  Including  women  and  children. 

*  Races  and  Immigrants  in  America,  pp.  124-125. 

*  For  detailed  figures  of  occupation  by  races  see  Rept.  Imm.  Com.,  Stat.  Rev., 
Abs.,  pp.  52,  5j. 


2o6  IMMIGRATION 

the  Slovaks  belonged  to  that  class,  during  the  period 
mentioned.  The  highest  proportion  of  professional  is 
shown  by  the  French,  with  6.2  per  cent.  In  general, 
the  old  immigration  has  a  larger  proportion  in  the  pro- 
fessional and  skilled  groups  than  the  new,  and  this 
difference  would  be  much  more  marked  if  the  Hebrews 
were  excepted,  as  they  again  furnish  a  marked  exception 
to  the  general  rule  of  the  new  immigration,  with  36.7 
per  cent  in  the  skilled  labor  group. 

Thus  far,  the  facts  which  have  been  brought  out  all 
have  to  do  with  the  condition  of  the  immigrants  upon 
their  arrival.  They  furnish  a  sort  of  a  composite  picture 
of  the  raw  material.  This  is  about  as  far  as  the  regular 
statistics  go.  After  the  immigrants  have  left  the  port 
of  arrival,  the  Bureau  furnishes  practically  no  informa- 
tion about  them  until  they  leave  the  country  again,  ex- 
cept an  occasional  special  report,  and,  in  recent  years, 
figures  concerning  naturahzation.  This  is  typical  of  the 
general  attitude  which  characterizes  the  entire  immigra- 
tion system  and  legislation,  and  rests  on  the  assumption 
that  if  sufficient  care  is  exercised  in  the  selection  of  immi- 
grants, all  will  thenceforth  be  well,  and  no  attention  need 
be  paid  to  them  after  they  are  in  the  country.  The  final 
piece  of  information  furnished  in  the  reports  is  the 
alleged  destination  of  the  immigrants.  This  is  of  course 
somewhat  uncertain,  but  in  so  far  as  it  is  conclusive  it 
furnishes  a  preliminary  clew  to  the  distribution  of  our 
ahen  residents  throughout  the  country. 

The  significance  of  the  figures  regarding  destination, 
or  intended  future  residence,  may  best  be  brought  out 
by  showing  the  percentages  destined  to  the  different 
territorial  divisions  of  the  United  States.  In  1910  these 
were  as  follows : 


ARRIVING   IMMIGRANTS  207 

PER  CENT  OF   TOT.AL    IMMIGRATION   DESTINED    TO 
EACH  OF  THE  SPECIFIED  DIVISIONS,  1910 

Division  Per  Cent 

North  Atlantic 62.3 

South  z\tlantic 2.5 

North  Central 26.1 

South  Central 2.3 

Western 6.i 

Total 99.3  1 

The  fact  that  in  a  typical  year  88.4  per  cent  of  the 
total  immigration  gave  their  intended  future  residence 
as  the  North  Atlantic  or  North  Central  divisions,  in- 
troduces us  to  some  of  the  peculiarities  of  the  distribution 
of  immigrants  in  the  United  States,  which  will  be  further 
considered  later. 

Before  closing  our  consideration  of  arriving  immigrants 
it  will  be  well  to  glance  briefly  at  those  who  arrive,  but 
are  not  admitted  —  in  other  words,  the  debarred.  We 
have  seen  that  the  law  has  grown  more  and  more  stringent 
in  its  conditions  for  admission,  and  each  new  statute  has 
tended  to  raise  the  standard.  These  laws  have  had  a 
powerful  influence  in  improving  the  character  of  the  ap- 
plicants for  admission,  and  with  the  cooperation  of  the 
transportation  companies  have  operated  to  check  the 
emigration  of  the  manifestly  undesirable  to  an  ever 
greater  extent.  Yet  there  are  every  year  considerable 
numbers  of  would-be  immigrants  who  have  to  be  turned 
back  at  the  portals  of  the  United  States.  The  lot  of 
these  unfortunates  is  undeniably  a  hard  one,  and  they 
are  the  objects  of  much  well-deserved  sympathy.  Every- 
thing possible  ought  to  be  done  to  limit  the  number  of 
inadmissible  aliens  who  are  allowed  to  present  themselves 
at  the  immigrant  stations  of  this  country.     The  farther 

'Balance  to  Alaska,  Hawaii,  Philippine  Islands,  and  Porlo  Rico. 


208 


IMMIGRATION 


back  on  the  road  they  can  be  stopped,  the  better  will  the 
interests  of  humanity  be  served.  At  the  same  time, 
pity  for  the  rejected  ahen  ought  not  to  be  allowed  to 
express  itself  in  unreasonable  and  unwarranted  attacks 
upon  our  system  of  admission,  and  the  officials  who  ad- 
minister it,  as  is  sometimes  done.^ 

The  statistics  of  debarments  may  be  indicative  of 
the  character  of  the  applicants,  of  the  stringency  of  the 
laws  and  the  faithfulness  of  their  enforcement,  or  of  the 
care  of  the  transportation  companies  in  prosecuting  their 
examination  on  the  other  side.  It  is  impossible  to  tell 
from  the  figures  themselves  which  of  these  factors  account 
for  the  different  fluctuations.  It  is  undoubtedly  true 
that  there  has  been,  in  general,  a  steady  improvement  in 
the  care  with  which  immigrants  are  selected.  If,  next 
year,  a  milHon  immigrants  of  the  same  general  character 
as  prevailed  sixty  years  ago  should  present  themselves 
at  our  gates,  the  proportion  of  refusals  would  soar  tre- 
mendously. The  following  table  gives  the  proportion 
of  debarments  to  admissions  since  1892. 

PROPORTION  OF  ALIENS  DEBARRED,  EXPRESSED 
IN  PERCENTAGES  OF  IMMIGRANTS  ADMITTED, 
1892-1912 


Year 

1893 

1893 

1894 

1895 

1896 

1897 

1898 

Per  cent 

•37 

.24 

•49 

•94 

.62 

.70 

1.32 

Year 

1899 

1900 

1901 

1902 

1903 

1904 

1905 

Per  cent 

1.22 

•95 

.72 

.76 

1.02 

.98 

^•iS 

Year 

1906 

1907 

1908 

1909 

1910 

1911 

1913 

Per  cent 

1. 12 

1.02 

1. 18 

1.09 

2^33 

2.54 

1.92 

1  See  Brandenburg,  B.,  "The  Tragedy  of  the  Rejected  Immigrant,"  Outlook, 
Oct.  13,  igo6. 


ARRIVING  IMMIGRANTS  209 

In  the  years  1892  to  1912,  169,132  aliens  were  refused 
admission  to  the  United  States.  Of  these,  58.2  per  cent 
were  debarred  on  the  grounds  of  pauperism  or  likeli- 
hood of  becoming  a  public  charge,  15.8  per  cent  were  af- 
flicted with  loathsome  or  dangerous  contagious  dis- 
eases, and  12.7  per  cent  were  contract  laborers.  These 
three  leading  causes  account  for  86.7  per  cent  of  all  the 
debarments.  The  other  classes  of  debarred  aliens 
specified  in  the  reports  are  as  follows :  idiots,  imbeciles, 
feeble-minded,  epileptics,  insane,  tuberculosis  (non- 
contagious), professional  beggars,  mental  or  physical 
defects  Hkely  to  affect  ability  to  earn  a  Hving,  accom- 
panying aHens,  under  sixteen  years  of  age  unaccom- 
panied by  parent,  assisted  ahens,  criminals,  polygamists, 
anarchists,  prostitutes,  etc.,  aliens  who  procure  pros- 
titutes, etc.,  under  passport  provision,  Section  i,  under 
provisions  Chinese  exclusion  act,  supported  by  proceeds 
of  prostitution. 

There  has  been  a  change  in  the  relative  importance  of 
the  three  leading  causes  of  debarment  since  1892.  In 
that  year  almost  all  the  debarred  aliens  were  paupers  or 
likely  to  become  a  public  charge  or  contract  laborers. 
The  first  of  these  classes  has  held  its  own  down  to  the 
present,  and  still  stands  far  in  advance  of  any  other  cause 
as  regards  the  number  refused.  The  contract  labor  class 
has  decHned  in  relative  importance.  Loathsome  and 
dangerous  contagious  diseases  were  comparatively  un- 
important until  1898,  when  they  sprang  into  prominence, 
and  have  since  outstripped  contract  laborers.  This 
was  due  to  the  classification,  in  1897,  of  trachoma  as  a 
dangerous  contagious  disease.  It  has  since  led  the  list  of 
diseases  by  a  large  margin.  In  1910  there  were  2618 
cases  of  trachoma  out  of  a  total  of  3123  loathsome  or 


2IO  IMMIGRATION 

dangerous  contagious  diseases.  Favus  comes  next  with 
III  cases,  tuberculosis  next  with  90,  and  others  304. 
The  proportions  were  about  the  same  in  1908  and  1909. 
In  191 2  the  proportion  of  trachoma  was  even  greater. 

Trachoma  is  the  disease  popularly  known  as  granular 
lids.  It  attacks  the  conjunctiva,  or  mucous  Hning  of  the 
lids,  setting  up  inflammation.  It  affects  the  cornea,  form- 
ing ulcers,  and  may  result  in  partial  or  total  opacity, 
which  may  be  permanent  or  temporary.  The  deter- 
mination of  cases  of  true  trachoma  appears  to  be  a  matter 
of  some  difficulty;  the  examiners  on  Ellis  Island  are 
"instructed  to  regard  as  trachoma  any  case  wherein 
the  conjunctiva  presents  firm,  well-marked  granulations 
which  do  not  have  a  tendency  to  disappear  when  the  case 
is  placed  in  hygienic  surroundings  a  few  days,  or  does  not 
yield  rapidly  to  ordinary  treatment,  even  though  there 
be  no  evidence  of  active  inflammation  at  the  time  of  the 
examination,  nor  appreciable  discharge,  nor  as  yet  any 
signs  of  degenerative  or  destructive  processes."  ^  The 
necessity  for  great  caution  in  this  matter  is  increased 
by  the  fact  that  it  is  possible  by  medical  treatment  to 
remove  the  outward  symptoms  of  trachoma  so  as  to 
make  it  very  difficult  of  detection,  though  there  is  no 
real  cure,  and  the  disease  will  return  later.  Many  im- 
migrants who  are  suffering  from  this  malady  take  treat- 
ment of  this  sort  before  emigrating.  It  is  stated  that 
in  London  there  are  institutions  which  make  a  business 
of  preparing  immigrants  for  admission.^  Statements 
emanating  from  medical  sources  have  recently  appeared 
in  the  newspapers  to  the  effect  that  trachoma  is  not  so 

'  Stoner,  Dr.  George  W.,  Immigration  —  The  Medical  Treatment  of  Immi- 
grants, etc.,  p.  10. 

2  There  is  also  a  flourishing  business  of  this  sort  in  Liverpool,  Marseilles,  etc. 
Kept.  Commissioner  General  of  Immigration,  1905,  pp.  50  fif. 


ARRIVING  IMMIGRANTS  211 

contagious  or  dangerous  as  has  been  supposed,  but  they 
appear  to  lack  substantiation. 

Favus  is  another  name  for  the  disease  known  as  ring 
worm.  It  is  a  vegetable  parasite  which  attacks  the  hair, 
causing  it  to  become  dry,  brittle,  dull,  and  easily  pulled 
out.     Favus  is  also  susceptible  to  temporary  "cures." 

On  the  whole,  the  new  immigration  is  more  subject 
to  debarment  than  the  old,  particularly  for  the  cause  of 
trachoma.  This  is  a  disease  to  which  the  races  of  south- 
eastern Europe  and  Asia  Minor  are  especially  liable.  A 
large  part  of  the  Syrians  have  it.  In  1 910  more  than 
3  per  cent  of  all  the  Syrians  who  presented  themselves 
for  admission  were  refused  for  this  cause  alone.  In- 
ability for  self-support  is  also  much  more  common  among 
the  new  than  the  old. 

Reviewing  this  survey  of  the  arriving  immigrants,  we 
find  that  as  respects  age  and  sex  they  are  a  body  of  per- 
sons remarkably  well  quahfied  for  productive  labor. 
The  predominating  races  are  now  those  of  southern 
and  eastern  Europe,  which  are  of  a  decidedly  different 
stock  from  the  original  settlers  of  this  country.  There 
is  a  large  percentage  of  illiteracy.  The  statistics  of 
conjugal  condition,  combined  with  those  of  sex  and  age, 
show  that  our  present  immigration  is  in  no  sense  an  im- 
migration of  families.  The  great  majority  of  the  immi- 
grants belong  to  the  unskilled  or  common  labor  class,  or 
else  have  no  occupation.  The  bulk  of  the  immigrants 
are  destined  to  the  North  Atlantic  and  North  Central 
divisions  of  the  United  States.  The  immigrants  are 
a  selected  body,  as  far  as  this  can  be  accomplished  by  a 
strict  examination  under  the  law.  In  spite  of  the  care 
exercised  by  transportation  companies  on  the  other  side, 
a  considerable  number  of  aliens  are  debarred  each  year, 


212  IMMIGRATION 

mainly  for  the  causes  of  disease,  inability  for  self-sup- 
port, or  labor  contracts.  In  almost  all  of  these  respects 
the  old  immigration  differs  to  a  greater  or  less  extent  from 
the  new,  with  the  exception  of  the  Hebrews,  who  stand 
apart  from  the  rest  of  the  new  immigration  in  a  number 
of  important  particulars. 


CHAPTER  XI 

CONDITIONS    OF   IMMIGRANTS   IN   THE    UNITED    STATES. 
EFFECTS    ON   POPULATION.      DISTRIBUTION 

The  student  who  turns  to  the  investigation  of  im- 
migration conditions  within  the  United  States  at  once 
finds  himself  hindered  by  a  serious  lack  of  material.  As 
has  been  stated  above,  the  Immigration  Bureau  furnishes 
practically  no  data  concerning  our  alien  residents  after 
it  bids  them  farewell  at  the  immigration  station.  The 
Census  Bureau  furnishes  certain  valuable  data,  and  the 
Immigration  Commission  has  recently  collected  a  vast 
amount  of  useful  information.  Occasional  articles  ap- 
pear in  the  periodicals,  and  there  are  a  few  books  touch- 
ing on  the  subject.  But  there  is  a  great  need  for  more 
concrete,  exhaustive,  and  sympathetic  studies  of  single 
racial  groups  of  immigrants,  such  as  has  been  made  by 
Miss  Emily  G.  Balch  in  regard  to  the  Slavs.  There 
ought  also  to  be  a  number  of  conscientious  studies  of 
different  phases  of  immigrant  hfe  in  this  country  — 
what  might  be  called  transverse  sections  of  the  problem, 
as  the  other  studies  are  longitudinal  sections.  A  num- 
ber of  valuable  studies  of  the  latter  sort  have  been  made 
by  the  Immigration  Commission  in  its  reports  upon 
immigrants  in  industries,  immigrants  in  cities,  immi- 
grants as  charity  seekers,  etc.  Other  topics  which 
might  well  be  considered  in  a  similar  manner  will  be 
suggested  by  the  following  subjects :  housing  condi- 
tions among  immigrants,  the  food  of  immigrants, 
the   problem    of    assimilation,    family    life    of    the   im- 

213 


214  IMMIGRATION 

migrants,  religious  life  of  the  immigrants,  etc.  Until 
more  work  of  this  sort  has  been  done  most  general 
conclusions  must  be  admittedly  tentative  and  subject 
to  revision.  Nevertheless,  knowledge  grows  from  the 
general  to  the  particular,  as  well  as  in  the  reverse  order, 
and  it  will  not  be  without  profit  to  review  the  data 
which  are  already  at  hand,  and  establish  as  many  con- 
clusions with  a  fair  degree  of  certainty  as  may  be  possible. 
At  the  time  of  the  census  of  1900  the  population  of  the 
United  States  numbered  76,303,387.  Of  these  10,460,085 
were  foreign-born.  In  1910  out  of  a  total  population  of 
91,972,266  there  were  13,515,886  foreign-born.  Out  of 
about  forty-five  different  groups,  designated  by  the 
country  of  origin,  the  following  are  the  most  important : 

FOREIGN-BORN  POPULATION  OF  THE  UNITED 
STATES  WHOSE  BIRTHPLACE  WAS  IN  THE 
COUNTRY  SPECIFIED 

1900  1910 

Birthplace  Number  Number 

Austria 276,702  1,174,973 

Canada  (English  or  other)   .     .     .      787,798  819,554 

Canada  (French) 395,427  385,083 

England 843,491  877,719 

Germany 2,669,164  2,501,333 

Ireland 1,619,469  1,352,251 

Italy 484,703  1,343,125 

Norway 338,426  403,877 

Poland  (all) 383,595  ^ 

Russia 424,372  1,602,782 

Sweden 574,625  665,207 

When  we  remember  the  remarkable  homogeneity  of 
the  inhabitants  of  the  United  States  at  the  time  of  the 
Revolution,  we  seem  justified  in  saying  that  one  con- 
clusion, at  least,  is  established  beyond  any  doubt,  viz. 
that  immigration  to  the  United  States  since  1820  has 

1  Distributed  under  Austria,  Germany,  and  Russia. 


IMMIGRANTS   IN  THE   UNITED   STATES      215 

resulted  in  a  decided  mixture  of  racial  stock.  For 
good  or  ill,  the  racial  unity  of  the  American  people  is  a 
thing  of  the  past. 

There  is  another  conclusion  which  might  be  drawn 
from  the  above  figures,  and  which  is  in  fact  assumed 
by  many  writers,  and  in  most  popular  discussions  of  the 
subject,  which  is  not  so  well  supported  by  facts.  This 
is,  that  these  foreign-born  residents  of  the  country, 
amounting  to  one  seventh  of  the  total,  constitute  a  net 
addition  to  the  population ;  in  other  words,  that  immi- 
gration has  increased  the  total  population  of  the  country 
by  an  amount  approximately  equal  to  the  number  of 
immigrants,  allowing,  of  course,  for  removals  and  deaths. 

At  first  glance  this  may  seem  almost  a  self-evident 
proposition.  That  it  is  not,  however,  is  evidenced  by 
the  strikingly  large  number  of  the  deeper  thinkers  on  the 
subject  who  hold  the  opposite  view.  Of  these,  the  best 
known  in  this  connection  is  General  Francis  A.  Walker. 
In  his  discussion  of  this  problem  he  says :  "Space  would 
not  serve  for  a  full  statistical  demonstration  of  the  prop- 
osition that  immigration,  during  the  period  from  1830 
to  i860  instead  of  constituting  a  net  reenforcement  to 
the  population,  simply  resulted  in  a  replacement  of 
native  by  foreign  elements ;  but  I  beheve  it  would  be 
practicable  to  prove  this  to  the  satisfaction  of  every 
fair-minded  man."  ^  Mr.  Prescott  F.  Hall,  who  quotes 
this  passage,  holds  firmly  to  the  same  opinion  himself, 
and  cites  a  number  of  other  writers  who  are  more  or  less 
positive  in  their  statements  of  the  causal  relation  be- 
tween immigration  and  the  diminishing  native  birth  rate. 

Mr.   F.   A.   Bushee,  whose  authority  on   matters  of 

'  Quoted  by  Prescott  F.  Hall,  Immigration,  p.  107.  See  also  Walker,  F.  A., 
"The  Restriction  of  Immigration,"  AUanlic  Monthly,  77:822. 


2i6  IMMIGRATION 

population  is  well  recognized,  says,  "The  multiplication 
of  foreign  peoples  has  seriously  checked  the  growth  of 
the  old  American  stock."  ^  Mr.  Robert  Hunter  is  a 
pronounced  advocate  of  this  view,  and  says,  "The  im- 
migrants are  not  additional  inhabitants.  Their  com- 
ing displaces  the  native  stock."  ^  Professor  John  R. 
Commons  supports  this  position  throughout  his  dis- 
cussions of  the  subject.  An  extreme  but  convincing 
opinion  is  that  expressed  by  Mr.  S.  G.  Fisher  in  the 
Popular  Science  Monthly  for  December,  1895.  After 
a  careful  statistical  survey  of  the  growth  of  population 
in  the  United  States  he  states  his  conviction  that  "im- 
migration has  not  materially  increased,  but,  on  the  con- 
trary, has  somewhat  decreased  the  American  popula- 
tion. ...  All  the  immigrants  and  all  their  increase 
cannot  make  up  for  the  loss  of  the  old  rate  of  increase 
of  the  natives." 

In  view  of  this  imposing  weight  of  authoritative  opin- 
ion, it  is  perhaps  surprising  that  the  popular  mind  still 
holds  so  tenaciously  and  universally  to  the  belief  that 
immigration  directly  increases  population.  The  ex- 
planation probably  lies  in  ignorance  of  the  facts  of  the 
case  and  of  the  fundamental  laws  of  population  and  in  the 
somewhat  abstruse  nature  of  the  reasoning  by  which  the 
expert  conclusions  are  reached.  For  it  must  be  ad- 
mitted frankly  that  this  is  not  a  proposition  which  can 
be  demonstrated  in  an  absolutely  conclusive  mathe- 
matical way,  which  will  leave  no  further  ground  for  argu- 
ment. The  factors  affecting  population  are  many  and 
complicated,  including  not  only  immigration,  but  war, 

»  Bushee,  F.  A.,  "The  Declining  Birth  Rate  and  Its  Cause,"  Pop.  Sci.  Month., 

63:355- 

2  Hunter,  Robert,  "Immigration  the  Annihilator  of  our  Native  Stock,"  The 

Commons,  April,  1904. 


IMMIGRANTS   IN  THE   UNITED    STATES      217 

vice,  hard  times,  marriage  customs,  the  growth  of  cities, 
and  a  host  of  other  things.  It  is  far  beyond  the  present 
power  of  social  science  to  define  positively  the  relative 
importance  of  each  of  the  forces  involved  in  producing  a 
certain  phenomenon. 

The  line  of  argument  by  which,  in  general,  all  writers 
such  as  those  to  whom  reference  was  made  above  have 
reached  their  conclusions  is  as  follows.  The  popula- 
tion of  the  United  States  at  the  time  it  became  a  nation 
was  almost  wholly  of  native  origin.  It  was  a  homoge- 
neous people,  of  one  stock,  one  language,  and  one  set 
of  traditions,  customs,  and  behefs.  For  the  first  forty 
years  of  our  national  fife  the  increase  of  population  was 
phenomenal,  doubling  every  twenty-two  or  twenty- 
three  years.  Malthus  chose  the  North  American  col- 
onies as  an  example  of  the  extreme  possibilities  of 
increase  under  favorable  conditions,  and  the  rate  con- 
tinued for  many  years  after  they  ceased  to  be  colonies. 
Between  1790  and  1830  the  population  increased  from 
less  than  4,000,000  to  nearly  13,000,000,  or  227  per  cent 
in  forty  years.  An  estimate  made  in  181 5,  based  on  the 
first  three  censuses,  reckoned  the  probable  population 
of  the  United  States  in  1900  at  100,235,985.  The  fact 
that  it  was,  instead,  only  76,303,387,  in  spite  of  the  in- 
coming of  19,115,221  aliens  since  1820,  shows  that  there 
must  have  been  a  tremendous  falling-off  in  the  native 
birth  rate.  Careful  study  reveals  the  fact  that  the  birth 
rate  first  began  to  decline  appreciably  about  1830,  just 
the  period  when  the  effects  of  immigration  first  began  to 
be  strongly  felt  in  this  country,  and  that  it  diminished 
progressively  with  the  swelling  volume  of  the  immi- 
gration current.  Moreover,  it  was  in  just  those  sections 
where  the  immigrants  congregated  most  thickly  that  the 


2i8  IMMIGRATION 

fall  in  the  native  birth  rate  was  most  pronounced,  even 
down  to  such  minor  divisions  as  counties.  New  England, 
which,  at  the  time  of  the  Revolution,  held  the  most 
homogeneous  population  in  the  country,  and  had  the 
highest  birth  rate,  has  now  the  greatest  proportion  of 
foreigners  and,  as  far  as  the  natives  at  least  are  con- 
cerned, the  lowest  birth  rate.  To  such  an  extent  has 
this  decHne  gone,  that  at  the  present  time  the  native 
stock  in  large  sections  of  New  England  is  not  even  main- 
taining itself.  Coincidences  of  time  and  place  between 
the  phenomena  of  immigration  and  those  of  the  declin- 
ing birth  rate  are  so  numerous  and  so  striking  that,  in 
the  words  of  General  Walker,  they  "constitute  a  statis- 
tical demonstration  such  as  is  rarely  attained  in  regard 
to  the  operation  of  any  social  or  economic  force." 

This  line  of  argument  has  been  so  thoroughly  and  con- 
vincingly expounded  by  a  number  of  writers  that  it  need 
not  be  dwelt  upon  further  here.  Its  great  weakness  is 
that  which  has  been  anticipated  —  it  lacks  mathematical 
positiveness.  An  opponent  might  readily  claim  that 
the  appalling  decline  in  the  native  birth  rate  (the  exist- 
ence of  which  no  one  would  care  to  deny)  was  due  to 
some  one  or  other  of  a  variety  of  different  causes,  or  to 
several  operating  together.  The  sections  where  the 
birth  rate  is  the  lowest  are  not  only  those  where  immi- 
gration has  been  the  heaviest.  They  are  also  to  a  large 
extent  those  which  are  characterized  most  distinctively 
by  manufacturing  industry,  or  where  the  population  is 
the  densest.  Why  not  assign  the  falling  birth  rate  to 
one  of  these  causes  ?  ^ 


1  For  a  statement  of  the  importance  of  the  growth  of  cities,  as  opposed  to 
immigration,  in  aCfecting  the  birth  rate,  see  Goldenweiser,  E.  A.,  "Walker's 
Theory  of  Immigration,"  Am.  Jour,  of  Soc,  18:  342. 


IMMIGRANTS   IN  THE    UNITED   STATES      219 

The  best  answer  to  this  counterargument  is  to 
strengthen  the  original  position  by  another  and  wholly 
different  course  of  reasoning.  This  may  be  done  very 
effectively  by  applying  the  fundamental  and  accepted 
laws  of  population  to  the  question  in  hand,  and  seeing 
how  they  would  work  out  in  such  a  case.  If  the  con- 
clusion thus  reached  coincides  with  that  resulting  from 
the  other  method  of  proof,  it  will  furnish  a  demonstra- 
tion amounting  almost  to  a  certainty. 

For  this  purpose  we  must  go  back  to  the  set  of  doc- 
trines first  consistently  expounded  by  Malthus,  and 
known  by  his  name.  Though  they  are  now  more  than  a 
century  old,  they  still  stand  as  one  of  the  profoundest 
contributions  to  human  knowledge.  These  doctrines  are 
so  familiar  to  all  students  of  social  subjects  that  the 
merest  summary  will  serve  the  present  purpose.  This 
may  be  given  in  the  following  words. 

Under  favorable  circumstances,  the  reproductive 
power  of  the  human  species  is  very  great. ^  Actual 
cases  of  doubling  of  population  in  from  twenty  to  twenty- 
five  years  have  been  known,  and  this  may  be  taken  as  a 
maximum  standard.  But  man  is  dependent  for  his 
existence  on  the  food  supply,  and,  owing  to  the  actual 
conditions  of  production,  there  is  no  ground  for  the  hope 
that  the  amount  of  subsistence  of  the  world  or  of  any 
nation  can  ever  be  increased  at  a  rate  corresponding  to 
the  possible  increase  of  mankind.  Consequently,  the 
growth  of  the  species  is  always  Hmited  by  the  possibihties 
of  the  increase  of  the  food  supply,  and  as  the  strength  of 
the  reproductive  instinct  is  very  great,  population  will 
always  be  pressing  hard  on  the  limits  of  subsistence. 
The  only  means  of  providing  for  a  greater  population  is 

•Sec  page  217. 


220  IMMIGRATION 

by  increasing  the  amount  of  productive  land,  or,  by 
improvements  in  the  arts,  by  making  the  land  already 
under  cultivation  produce  more  food.  Briefly  stated, 
in  any  society,  population  tends  to  increase  up  to  the 
supporting  power  of  the  soil.  The  forces  which  retard 
the  growth  of  population,  however,  are  something  more 
than  starvation  in  the  strictest  sense  of  the  word.  They 
are  enumerated  by  Malthus  in  a  list  of  what  he  calls 
checks.  These  naturally  fall  under  two  heads:  First, 
the  positive  checks,  which  increase  the  death  rate,  viz. 
war,  famine,  pestilence,  vice,  etc. ;  these  all  produce 
misery  and  arise  whenever  population  becomes  too  dense. 
Second,  the  preventive  checks,  which  Hmit  the  birth 
rate,  such  as  deferred  marriage,  celibacy,  and  voluntary 
restriction  of  births,  vicious  or  otherwise ;  these  are  under 
the  control  of  the  human  reason  and  will,  and  while 
they  too  entail  a  degree  of  suffering,  it  is  not  comparable 
to  that  caused  by  the  other  class  of  checks.  All  civilized 
societies  have  come  more  and  more  to  employ  the  pre- 
ventive checks,  particularly  that  which  is  known  as 
moral  restraint. 

The  basic  principles  of  Malthusianism  remain  as  un- 
assailable as  when  they  were  first  propounded.  But 
there  have  been  certain  modifications  made  necessary 
by  the  changing  conditions  of  human  society.  As  al- 
ready suggested  the  preventive  checks  hold  a  much  larger 
place  than  formerly,  and  great  weight  is  now  attached 
to  what  are  known  as  the  institutional  checks,  such  as 
the  demands  of  education,  late  marriages,  social  obliga- 
tions, the  "emancipation"  of  women,  and  a  host  of 
other  customs  and  conventions  which  tend  more  or  less 
imperceptibly  to  limit  the  number  of  l^irths.  Still  more 
important,  in  the  place  of  a  bare  subsistence  as  the  limit 


IMMIGRANTS   IN  THE   UNITED   STATES      221 

upon  which  population  is  always  pressing,  has  been 
substituted  the  standard  of  Hving.  This  includes  all 
those  necessaries,  comforts,  and  even  luxuries  which  are 
customary  in  the  social  group  in  which  the  individual  or 
family  finds  itself  placed.  The  limits  of  the  family  group 
are  not  now  determined  by  the  amount  of  bare  neces- 
saries which  are  essential  for  the  preservation  of  life  — 
probably  they  never  were  absolutely  —  but  rather  by 
the  amount  of  advantages  which  are  required  to  keep 
the  family  in  the  social  stratum  to  which  it  belongs  or 
to  which  the  parents  aspire,  either  for  themselves  or 
for  their  children.  Particularly  is  this  true  in  a  demo- 
cratic country  like  the  United  States,  where  social 
position  depends  not  so  much  on  rank  or  birth,  as  on 
wealth  and  education,  both  of  which  are  attainable  by 
effort  and  sacrifice.  It  is  the  desire  for  the  "concentra- 
tion of  advantages"  of  this  sort  which  leads  to  the  re- 
striction of  the  size  of  families. 

With  this  set  of  laws  in  mind,  let  us  seek  to  determine 
the  effect  which  might  reasonably  be  expected  to  follow 
the  introduction  of  a  large  number  of  immigrants  from 
European  countries  into  the  American  body  politic. 
In  the  first  place,  it  will  be  conceded  that  the  great  bulk 
of  our  immigrants  represent  a  much  lower  standard  of 
living  than  is  customary  among  native  American  work- 
men in  the  occupations  into  which  they  go.^  Observa- 
tion of  conditions  in  the  countries  from  which  the  immi- 
grants come,  and  in  the  communities  in  which  they  settle 
after  they  arrive,  estabhshcs  this  fact  beyond  the  neces- 
sity of  proof.  In  fact,  this  dilTercnce,  as  has  been  shown, 
is  the  underlying  reason  for  their  coming.^     Undoubtedly 

'  See  review  of  Levasseur's  "American  Workman,"  Pol.  Sm.  Quart.,  13:321. 
'  See  page  145. 


222  IMMIGRATION 

many  of  the  immigrants  raise  their  standard  of  living 
somewhat  after  their  arrival  in  this  country,  but  not 
nearly  up  to  the  American  level. 

Since  the  immigrant  has  a  lower  standard  than  the 
native,  he  can  afford  to  work  for  lower  wages,  and  since 
the  amount  of  aHen  labor  is  so  abundant  and  so  easily 
available,  the  standard  of  wages  in  the  occupations  into 
which  the  immigrants  go  is  set  by  the  amount  for  which 
they  are  wiHing  to  work.  This  amount  is  lowered  still 
further  by  the  fact  that  the  immigrant  is  generally  quite 
wilKng  to  add  to  the  income  of  his  family  by  putting 
his  children  to  work  as  soon  as  the  law  allows  —  or 
earher  if  possible  —  whereas  the  native  ordinarily  pre- 
fers to  keep  his  children  at  home  and  in  school  as  long 
as  possible.^  Thus  large  families  become  a  source  of 
revenue  for  one,  and  an  item  of  expense  for  the  other. 
It  is  obviously  impossible  for  the  native  to  support  the 
same-sized  family  in  the  same  degree  of  comfort  on  the 
new  scale  of  wages  as  on  the  old.  He  is  compelled  to 
choose  between  two  alternatives.  Either  he  may  lower 
his  standard  of  living  and  keep  the  same-sized  family,  or 
limit  the  size  of  his  family  for  the  sake  of  the  standard 
of  living.  But  the  lowering  of  the  standard  of  hving  is 
something  which  every  people  —  particularly  the  Ameri- 
cans —  resist  strenuously.  If  it  is  a  question  of  the 
possibility  of  raising  the  standard,  people  often  prefer 
larger  families.  This  is  instanced  by  the  very  significant 
fact  that  immigrants  to  this  country  do,  as  a  rule,  raise 
their  birth  rate  very  considerably.  The  foreign-born 
birth  rate  in  Massachusetts  in  1895  was  50.40,  which 

1  See  Report  of  Committee  on  Standard  of  Living,  8th  N.  Y.  State  Conference 
of  Charities  and  Corrections,  Albany,  1907,  p.  20.  Also  Van  Vorst,  Mrs.  John, 
The  Cry  of  the  Children,  p.  213. 


IMMIGRANTS   IN  THE   UNITED   STATES      223 

is  from  12  to  20  higher  than  in  most  European 
countries.^  But  if  it  is  a  question  of  lowering  the  stand- 
ard of  living,  the  opposite  course  is  taken.  The  standard 
of  living  is  a  matter  of  custom,  and,  when  once  estab- 
lished, has  a  tremendous  tenacity.  The  American  la- 
borer chooses  the  other  alternative.  He  limits  the  size 
of  his  family. 

Multiphed  by  tens  of  thousands,  this  expedient  results 
in  seriously  checking  the  growth  of  population.  This 
decrease  in  the  number  of  native  children  destined  to 
enter  certain  occupations  makes  a  greater  demand  for 
alien  labor,  which  is  promptly  supplied.  Thus  the  in- 
vasion of  the  American  standard  goes  on  progressively, 
and  gradually  these  occupations  come  to  be  resigned  more 
and  more  to  foreign  labor.  Already  certain  classes  of 
work  are  commonly  known  as  "Dago  labor,"  others  as 
"Hunkie  labor,"  etc.,  and  a  self-respecting  American 
parent  shudders  at  the  thought  of  having  his  child 
enter  them. 

This  very  fact  is  sometimes  used  as  an  excuse  for  the 
whole  procedure.  It  is  claimed  that  the  natives  are  not 
displaced,  but  are  simply  forced  into  higher  occupations. 
Those  who  were  formerly  common  laborers  are  now  in 
positions  of  authority.  While  this  argument  holds  true 
of  individuals,  its  fallacy  when  applied  to  groups  is  ob- 
vious. There  are  not  nearly  enough  places  of  authority 
to  receive  those  who  are  forced  out  from  below.  The  in- 
troduction of  five  hundred  Slav  laborers  into  a  community 
may  make  a  demand  for  a  dozen  or  a  score  of  Americans 
in  higher  positions,  but  hardly  for  five  hundred.  Further- 
more, in  so  far  as  this  process  does  actually  take  place, 

*  Bailey,  W.  B.,  Modern  Social  Conditions,  p.  104,  and  Gonnard,  Rcn^, 
U Emigration  europienne  au  XIXe  siecle,  p.  120. 


2  24  IMMIGRATION 

it  must  result  in  a  lowering  of  the  native  birth  rate, 
for  it  is  a  well-known  fact  that  in  all  modern  societies 
the  higher  the  social  class,  the  smaller  is  the  average 
family. 

What  has  been  said  thus  far  refers  to  the  limitation  of 
families  after  marriage.  The  same  influences  work  to 
produce  the  same  result  in  another  way.  The  increased 
difficulty  in  earning  enough  to  support  a  family,  due  to 
immigration,  leads  countless  American  young  men  to 
postpone  marriage  for  many  years,  and  perhaps  an 
equal  number  to  give  up  marrying  altogether.  Both 
result  in  a  great  decrease  in  the  birth  rate  for  society 
as  a  whole.^ 

The  processes  sketched  above  are  mainly  volitional. 
There  is  a  variety  of  other  influences,  which  work  un- 
consciously, but  perhaps  none  the  less  powerfully,  to 
accomplish  the  same  result.  General  Walker  asserted 
that  the  shock  produced  on  the  American  mind  by  the 
miserable  class  of  immigrants  in  the  thirties  and  forties, 
in  itself,  had  a  profoundly  detrimental  effect  on  the 
natural  rate  of  reproduction.  Immigration  has  the 
effect  of  vastly  increasing  congestion  of  population,  and 
congestion  limits  its  growth.  Furthermore,  in  an  average 
group  of  immigrants,  the  males  exceed  the  females  by 
more  than  two  to  one.-  The  introduction  of  such  an  un- 
natural element  into  the  population  must  limit  its  re- 
productive power. 

It  is  thus  apparent  that  the  laws  of  population  would 

1  For  discussions  of  the  sensitiveness  of  the  marriage  rate  to  economic  condi- 
tions, see  SchooUng,  J.  Holt,  "The  EngHsh  Marriage  Rate,"  Fortnightly  Review, 
75^959;  Willcox,  W.  F.,  "Marriage  Rate  in  Michigan,  1870-iSQo,"  Quart. 
Puhl.  Amcr.  Stat.  Assn.,  4:1;  and  Crum,  F.  S.,  "The  Marriage  Rate  in  Mas- 
sachusetts," Quart.  Publ.  Amer.  Stat.  Assn.,  4  :  322. 

'  See  page  igi. 


IMMIGRANTS   IN  THE   UNITED   STATES      225 

lead  us  to  expect  exactly  the  result  which  the  statistical 
data  indicate  —  a  decided  fall  in  the  native  birth  rate, 
due  to  the  enormous  and  ever  increasing  immigration 
into  this  country.  The  conclusion  thus  reached  is 
corroborated  and  verified  by  a  host  of  social  workers, 
who  testify  from  their  own  experience  and  observation. 
As  an  example,  note  the  words  of  Rev.  Walter  A. 
Rauschenbusch,  whose  keen  insight  into  social  questions 
has  placed  him  in  the  front  rank  of  American  thinkers : 
*'The  natives,  who  suffer  by  the  competition  of  the  im- 
migrants and  who  feel  the  tightening  grip  of  our  indus- 
trial development,  refuse  to  bring  children  into  a  world 
which  threatens  them  with  poverty."  ^  Whether  this 
dechne  in  the  native  birth  rate  has  been  sufficient  to 
offset  the  high  birth  rate  of  the  foreign-born,  and  produce 
an  actually  smaller  population  than  we  would  have  had 
without  any  immigrants  since  1820,  is  impossible  of 
proof.  It  seems  wholly  probable  that  it  has.  The 
second  generation  of  immigrants  themselves  feel  the 
effect  of  the  newcomers,  and  our  foreign  population 
shows  a  sharp  decline  in  its  birth  rate  after  a  generation 
of  American  life.^  At  least,  if  immigration  has  not  posi- 
tively lessened  our  population,  we  may  be  certain  that 
it  has  failed  to  increase  it  to  any  considerable  extent. 
Its  net  result,  as  far  as  size  of  population  is  concerned,  has 
been  to  substitute  a  very  large  foreign  element,  from 
various  sources,  for  a  native  element  which  would  other- 
wise have  come  into  being. 

The  size  and  diversity  of  this  foreign  element  in  the 
United  States  is  constantly  increasing.  The  representa- 
tives of  different  foreign  nationalities  are  becoming  ever 

*  Chrislianity  and  the  Social  Crisis,  p.  273. 

*  a.  Commons,  J.  R.,  op.  cil.,  pp.  203-204. 


2  26  IMMIGRATION 

more  numerous  and  more  important  in  the  life  of  the 
country.  In  them  is  embodied  the  "problem  of  the 
immigrant." 

One  of  the  most  essential  factors  conditioning  this 
problem  is  the  distribution  of  these  foreign  residents. 
The  importance  of  this  aspect  of  the  situation  is  becom- 
ing more  and  more  felt,  and  will  manifest  itself  in  the 
succeeding  pages.  There  are  two  main  sources  of  ofhcial 
information  on  this  point.  The  first  of  these,  the  im- 
migration reports,  has  already  been  considered,  and  its 
data  taken  for  what  they  are  worth. ^  The  other  is 
the  reports  of  the  Bureau  of  the  Census,  which  give 
the  actual  distribution  of  the  foreign-born,  at  ten-year 
intervals.  According  to  this  authority,  the  per  cent 
distribution  of  the  foreign-born  among  the  various  ter- 
ritorial divisions  in  1900  was  as  follows  : 

PER  CENT  DISTRIBUTION  OF  FOREIGN-BORN  POP- 
ULATION IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  (EXCLUSIVE 
OF  ALASKA  AND  HAWAII)  AMONG  THE  DIVI- 
SIONS, 1900  2 

Total  foreign-born,  exclusive  of  Alaska  and  Hawaii,  10,356,644 

Division  Per  Cent 

North  Atlantic 46.0 

South  Atlantic 2.1 

North  Central 40.2 

South  Central 3.5 

Western 8.2 

Total loo.o 

According  to  the  division  adopted  in  the  census  of 
1910,  84.8  per  cent  of  the  foreign-born  were  in  the  North, 
5.4  per  cent  in  the  South,  and  9.7  per  cent  in  the  West. 

'  See  page  207.  2  Twelfth  Census,  Vol.  I,  p.  civ. 


IMMIGRANTS   IN  THE   UNITED   STATES      227 

The  distribution  shown  by  these  figures  accords  closely 
with  the  statement  of  destinations  made  by  the  immi- 
grants at  the  time  of  their  arrival.^  Whereas  88.4  per 
cent  of  the  immigrants  in  1910  gave  their  destination  as 
either  the  North  Atlantic  or  North  Central  divisions, 
in  1900  the  census  enumerators  found  86.2  per  cent  of 
the  foreign-born  residents  actually  residing  in  those 
divisions,  and  in  1910,  84.8  per  cent  in  the  North. 

There  is  a  marked  difference,  however,  in  the  distribu- 
tion of  the  various  races.  This  is  shown  by  the  following 
table,  which  gives  the  proportional  distribution  of  some 
of  the  leading  races  of  the  foreign-born  among  the 
divisions : 

PER  10,000  DISTRIBUTION  OF  FOREIGN-BORN  POP- 
ULATION OF  THE  UNITED  STATES,  ACCORDING 
TO  DIVISIONS  AND   COUNTRY  OF  BIRTH,  1900  2 


Birthplace 

North        South 
Atlantic   Atlantic 

North 
Central 

South 
Central 

West 

United  Kingdom 
Scandinavia  . 
Germany 
Poland  (Russian 
Hungary   .     . 
Italy     .     .     . 

)    • 

6152 

1653 
3312 
7070 
7297 
7264 

8491 
6187 
6580 

234 

37 
274 
261 
144 
216 
144 
134 
387 

2558 
7066 

5475 
2389 
2260 
1136 
1142 

2543 
2535 

220 

lOS 
410 

14s 
126 

540 
92 

36s 
211 

806 
1087 
508 
132 
167 
830 
124 

743 
272 

Roumania     . 
Austria      .     . 
Russia  .     .     . 

The  most  striking  fact  exhibited  by  this  table  is  the 
exceptionally  large  proportion  of  the  Germans  and 
Scandinavians  who  have  settled  in  the  North  Central 
division.     It  also  illustrates  further  the  minor  part  that 

»  See  page  207.      =  Twelfth  Census,  Supp.  Anal,  and  Dcriv.  Tables,  Table  67. 


2  28  IMMIGR.\TION 

the  Southern  and  Western  divisions  have  played  in  the 
immigration  of  all  races.  The  same  general  showing  is 
made  by  the  figures  for  1910.  Thus  74.1  per  cent  of 
the  foreign-born  from  Austria,  86.8  per  cent  of  those  from 
Hungary,  69.3  per  cent  of  those  from  Italy,  and  72.9 
per  cent  of  those  from  Russia  were  in  the  Middle  Atlantic 
and  East  North  Central  divisions.  But  35.2  per  cent 
of  the  foreign-born  from  Denmark,  17.1  per  cent  of  those 
from  Germany,  49.2  per  cent  of  those  from  Norway,  and 
32.1  per  cent  of  those  from  Sweden  were  in  the  West 
North  Central  division  alone. ^ 

The  significance  of  these  figures  can  be  fully  compre- 
hended only  by  taking  into  consideration  the  questions 
of  area  and  density.  The  statement  is  often  made  that 
the  density  of  population  in  the  United  States  is  so 
small  that  we  still  have  ample  room  for  an  indefinite 
number  of  immigrants.  It  is  pointed  out  that  the 
average  density  of  population  in  the  United  States  is 
only  25.6  per  square  mile  (1900),  as  against  400,  500,  or 
even  more  in  European  countries.  If  the  immigrants 
were  evenly  distributed  over  the  entire  territory  of  the 
United  States,  this  argument  would  have  some  weight. 
But  we  see  that  they  are  not.  This  is  one  of  the  cases 
where  an  average  is  misleading.  The  immigrants  are 
really  being  concentrated  in  the  most  thickly  populated 
portions  of  the  country.  This  becomes  more  evident 
if  we  examine  the  conditions  in  certain  states.  Thus 
in  1907,  according  to  the  Immigration  Report,  6.5  per 
cent  of  the  immigrants  were  destined  to  Massachusetts, 
which  in  1900  had  a  density  of  348.9;  30  per  cent  of 
the  immigrants  were  destined  to  New  York,  with  a 
density  of  152.6;    17.9  per  cent  to  Pennsylvania,  with  a 

'  Abstract,  Thirteenth  Census,  p.  ig?- 


IMMIGRANTS   IN  THE   UNITED   STATES      229 

density  of  140. i ;  8.1  per  cent  to  Illinois,  with  a  density  of 
86.1 ;  5.5  per  cent  to  New  Jersey,  with  a  density  of  250.3  ; 
while  little  Rhode  Island,  with  a  density  of  407,  was 
credited  with  .9  per  cent.  It  thus  appears  that  these 
six  states,  containing  only  5.6  per  cent  of  the  total  area 
of  the  United  States,  and  with  a  density  in  each  case 
far  above  the  average,  received  68.9  per  cent  of  the  total 
immigration  for  the  year. 

It  is  thus  apparent  that  our  foreign-born  residents 
tend  irresistibly  to  congregate  in  the  most  densely  settled 
portions  of  the  country,  and  in  the  most  densely  popu- 
lated states.  But  this  is  not  all.  They  also  tend  to 
congregate  in  the  largest  cities,  and  in  the  most  congested 
sections  of  those  cities.  In  1890,  61.4  per  cent  of 
the  foreign-born  population  of  the  United  States  were 
living  in  cities  of  at  least  2500  population.  In  1900 
the  percentage  had  increased  to  66.3,  while  38.8  per 
cent  of  the  entire  foreign-born  population  were  huddled 
into  the  few  great  cities  having  a  population  of  over 
100,000.  In  the  same  year  only  36.1  per  cent  of 
the  native-born  population  were  living  in  cities  of 
over  2500.  This  tendency  appears  to  be  increasing 
in  strength,  and  is  more  marked  among  the  mem- 
bers of  the  new  immigration  than  among  the  older 
immigrants.'  Thus  in  1910  the  percentage  of  foreign- 
born  living  in  cities  of  the  specified  size  had  risen 
to  72.2. 

The  reasons  for  this  tendency  of  the  foreign-born  to 
congregate  in  the  most  densely  settled  districts  may  be 
briefly  summarized  as  follows,     (i)  They  land,  almost 

'  For  a  full  statement  of  opposite  opinions  on  this  subject,  see  Willcox,  W.  F., 
"The  Distribution  of  ImmiKrants  in  the  United  States,"  Quart.  Jour,  of  Econ., 
AuRust,  1906;  and  Fairchild,  II.  P.,  "Distribution  of  Immigrants,"  Yale 
Review,  November,  1907. 


230  IMMIGRATION 

without  exception,  in  cities,  and  it  is  often  the  easiest 
thing  for  them  to  stay  there.  It  takes  some  capital, 
knowledge,  and  enterprise  to  carry  the  immigrant  any 
distance  from  the  port  of  arrival,  unless  he  has  a  definite 
connection  in  some  other  place.  Yet  it  is  claimed  that, 
land  them  where  you  would,  about  the  same  number  of 
immigrants  would  find  their  way  to  New  York  within  a 
few  weeks.  (2)  Economic  opportunities  are  much  more 
abundant  and  varied  in  the  cities  than  in  the  country. 
(3)  Such  occupations  as  are  obtainable  in  the  city  re- 
quire much  less  capital  than  the  characteristic  country 
occupations.  With  a  few  dollars,  an  immigrant  in  the 
city  can  set  himself  up  in  some  independent  business, 
depending  on  turning  over  his  capital  rapidly  to  make  a 
living.  There  are  so  many  people  in  the  city,  that  if 
one  can  manage  to  serve  the  most  trivial  want  satis- 
factorily, he  can  get  along.  But  any  independent 
business  in  the  country  requires  a  larger  outlay  of  capital 
than  the  average  immigrant  can  hope  for.  The  only 
country  occupation  open  to  him  is  common  farm  labor, 
and  there  are  other  reasons  which  make  him  ill  adapted 
for  this.  (4)  In  the  cities,  the  newly  arrived  immigrant 
can  keep  in  close  touch  with  others  of  his  own  race  and 
tongue.  In  the  compact  colony  of  his  fellow-country- 
men, he  may  be  sure  of  companionship,  encouragement, 
and  assistance  when  needed.  It  is  the  most  natural 
thing  in  the  world  for  an  immigrant  to  want  to  settle 
where  there  are  numbers  of  others  of  his  immediate 
kind.  (5)  Knowledge  of  the  English  language  is  much 
less  essential  in  the  city  than  in  the  country.  The 
presence  of  others  who  can  speak  the  same  tongue  makes 
it  possible  for  an  immigrant  to  make  a  hving  without 
knowing  a  word  of  the  language  of  his  adopted  country, 


IMMIGRANTS   IN  THE   UNITED   STATES      231 

as  many  of  them  do  for  year  after  year.  In  the  niral 
districts,  however,  it  is  ahnost  impossible  for  a  newly 
arrived  immigrant  to  get  along  at  all  without  a  knowl- 
edge of  the  English  language,  either  in  independent 
business,  or  as  an  employee,  unless  he  settles  in  a  farm 
colony  of  people  of  his  owti  race,  of  which  there  are,  of 
course,  many  to  be  found.  (6)  Not  only  is  there  more 
chance  of  friendly  relief  from  fellow-countrymen,  in  case 
of  necessity,  in  the  cities,  but  public  relief  agencies  and 
private  benevolences  are  much  more  available  there  than 
in  the  country.  (7)  The  excitement  and  novelty  of 
American  city  hfe  is  very  attractive  to  many  immigrants 
—  just  as  it  is  to  the  natives.  Trolley  cars,  skyscrapers, 
and  moving  picture  shows  are  wonderfully  alluring 
features.  In  fact,  in  addition  to  the  considerations  which 
are  peculiar  to  himself,  the  immigrant  has  all  the  general 
incentives  to  seek  the  city,  which  operate  upon  the 
general  population,  and  which  have  produced  so  de- 
cided a  change  in  the  distribution  of  population 
within  the  last  few  decades.^ 

The  matter  of  distribution  has  been  treated  thus  at 
length  because  it  is  one  of  the  most  important  aspects 
of  the  entire  situation.  Many,  if  not  most,  of  the  prac- 
tical problems  of  immigration  hinge  directly  upon  the 
matter  of  distribution.  Upon  it  depends  the  question 
whether  the  immigrant  and  the  economic  opportunity, 
which  is  his  justification  for  being  in  the  country,  shall 
come  together.  The  question  of  assimilation,  which  is 
largely  a  question  of  contact  between  the  newcomer  and 
the  native-bom  population,  is  primarily  a  matter  of 
distribution.     Crime,  pauperism,  disease,  the   standard 

'  Cf.  Balch,  Emily  G.,  Our  Slavic  Fellow  Citizens,  pp.  317-319;  and  Addams, 
Jane,  Newer  Ideals  of  Peace,  pp.  65-68. 


232  IMMIGRATION 

of  living,  morality,  education  —  all,  to  a  greater  or  less 
extent,  are  dependent  upon  distribution.  No  practical 
program  for  the  treatment  of  immigrants,  which  is  not 
calculated  directly  to  improve  distribution,  can  hope  for 
any  considerable  measure  of  success. 


CHAPTER  XII 

CONDITIONS  {continued),     the  standard  of  living 

We  turn  now  to  a  closer  study  of  the  life  conditions 
of  the  immigrants  after  they  have  been  admitted  to  this 
country,  and  have  become  a  part  of  our  body  politic. 
These  conditions  affect  all  the  life  interests  of  the  alien, 
and  must,  in  the  end,  have  a  determining  influence  upon 
the  desirability  of  immigration,  both  from  the  point  of 
view  of  the  immigrant  and  of  the  United  States.  They 
are  manifestly  so  diverse  and  complicated  as  to  make 
it  difficult  to  frame  any  classification  which  will  not 
overlap,  and  confuse  rather  than  clarify.  In  general, 
however,  we  may  divide  these  conditions  into  two  cate- 
gories, which  are  not  absolutely  exclusive  and  definite, 
but  will  serve  the  purposes  of  arrangement.  These  are 
as  follows :  (i)  Those  conditions  which  are  primarily 
individual  to  the  immigrant  himself,  and  affect  the 
general  life  of  the  nation  only  indirectly,  because  the 
immigrant  is  a  resident  of  that  nation.  (2)  Those  con- 
ditions which  have  to  do  directly  with  the  hfe  of  the  im- 
migrant as  a  member  of  society,  and  immediately  affect 
the  interests  and  welfare  of  others  besides  himself.  To 
the  first  category  belong  such  matters  as  housing  con- 
ditions, food,  and  standard  of  living  in  general,  wages, 
recreations,  religious  life,  certain  forms  of  vice,  educa- 
tion, etc.  To  the  second,  pauperism,  crime,  sex  vice, 
insanity,  contagious  diseases,  industrial  efficiency,  trade- 
union    affiliations,  political    activities   and    affiliations, 

233 


234  IMMIGRATION 

money  brought  into  and  sent  out  of  the  country,  and 
anything  which  increases  or  hghtcns  the  burdens  of  the 
average  citizen  of  the  country.  In  each  of  these  two 
classes,  there  are  conditions  which  may  be  considered 
as  political,  religious,  economic,  and  social.  Many  life 
interests  belong  partly  in  one  category,  and  partly  in 
the  other.  This  is  especially  true  of  that  great  class  of 
facts  having  to  do  with  marriages,  births,  and  deaths, 
which  affect  first  of  all  the  immigrant,  but  through  him 
the  general  population  of  the  country. 

Among  those  conditions  which  are  primarily  indi- 
vidual, many  of  the  most  important  come  under  the  head 
of  the  economic.  And  many  of  the  most  significant 
economic  conditions  may  be  considered  under  the  head 
of  the  standard  of  living.  It  has  been  said,  with  a  great 
deal  of  truth,  that  the  immigration  problem  in  this 
country  is  largely  a  matter  of  a  competitive  struggle 
between  different  standards  of  living. 

Probably  no  other  department  of  the  standard  of 
living  of  the  immigrants  has  received  such  careful  study 
in  recent  years  as  the  matter  of  housing.  As  a  result,  we 
are  now  able  to  draw  more  accurate  general  conclusions 
in  regard  to  this  matter  than  is  possible  in  respect  to 
almost  any  other  phase  of  the  standard.  Particularly 
is  this  true  in  regard  to  conditions  in  the  compact  colonies 
of  our  large  cities,  which,  as  we  have  seen,  constitute  the 
characteristic  home  of  the  new  immiigrant,  and  where 
the  problem  is  the  greatest.  There  is  also  a  mass  of 
reliable  information  in  respect  to  another  characteristic 
home  of  the  immigrant,  the  residence  portions  of  mining 
camps,  and  the  smaller  manufacturing  cities. 

Up  to  the  present  the  slum,  in  spite  of  all  the  attacks 
upon  it,  has  maintained  itself  as  a  permanent  feature  of 


THE   STANDARD   OF  LIVING  235 

most  of  our  large  cities.  But  the  population  of  the  slum 
is  not  a  permanent  but  an  ever  changing  one.  The 
unsuccessful,  unfortunate,  and  incapable  individuals 
remain,  but  the  more  ambitious,  progressive,  and  suc- 
cessful move  on  to  other  and  better  sections.  Neverthe- 
less, the  slums  are  always  full;  and  grow  rather  than 
diminish.  There  is  a  never  faiUng  supply  of  new  recruits, 
in  the  body  of  recent  immigrants,  to  take  the  places  of 
those  who  move  up.  Thus  the  slum  becomes  the  great 
sifting  ground  of  the  foreign-born,  and  tends  to  become 
more  and  more  the  abode  of  the  poorest  classes  of  our 
population.  Not  only  is  there  a  progression  of  indi- 
viduals through  the  slum,  but  some  of  our  cities  have 
witnessed  a  most  interesting  and  significant  succession 
of  races  along  the  same  course.  The  natives  were  dis- 
placed by  the  Irish ;  they  in  turn  were  crowded  out  by 
the  Italians  and  Jews,  and  now  the  Greeks,  Syrians, 
and  allied  races  are  driving  out  the  Italians.  Races 
may  come  and  races  may  go,  but  the  slum  goes  on  — 
forever  ? 

The  character  of  the  modern  tenement  has  been 
sufficiently  described  by  many  writers  to  obviate  the 
necessity  of  going  into  any  detailed  account  of  it  in  the 
present  connection.  Our  main  concern  is  the  life  of  the 
immigrant  within  this  tenement.  The  most  recent  and 
reliable  information  upon  this  point  is  that  furnished  by 
the  Immigration  Commission  in  their  report  on  Immi- 
grants in  Cities.^  The  agents  of  the  Commission  made  a 
detailed  study  of  the  most  densely  congested  districts  of 
New  York,  Chicago,  Philadelphia,  Boston,  Cleveland, 
Buffalo,  and  Milwaukee.  They  found  the  population  of 
these  districts  to  consist  mainly  of  members  of  the  recently 

'  Quotations  arc  from  the  abstract  of  that  report. 


236  IMMIGRATION 

immigrating  races.  In  all  seven  of  these  cities  Russian 
Hebrews  and  south  Italians  are  among  the  principal 
races  represented  in  the  congested  districts,  while  in  the 
cities  on  the  Great  Lakes  Poles,  Bohemians,  and  other 
Slavic  races  are  relatively  more  numerous  than  in  the 
Atlantic  coast  cities.  Very  few  families  whose  heads 
were  native-born  of  native  fathers  were  found  in  these 
districts.  Nearly  one  half  of  the  foreign-born  heads  of 
households  had  come  within  the  last  ten  years,  and  over 
one  fifth  within  five  years.  Not  only  were  there  very 
few  native  families,  but  only  the  remnants  of  colonies  of 
Germans,  Irish,  and  Swedes  were  found. 

The  first  point  to  demand  our  attention  in  regard  to  the 
life  of  the  foreign-born  within  the  tenements  is  the  amount 
of  congestion.  Among  the  households  studied  by  the 
Immigration  Commission,  the  average  numbers  of  rooms 
per  apartment  was  3.72.  The  average  number  of  rooms 
per  apartment  for  the  households  whose  head  was  native- 
born  white  of  native  father  was  4.47,  of  the  native-born 
of  foreign  father  4.34,  of  the  foreign-born  3.64.  The 
average  number  of  persons  per  household  for  the  native- 
born  white  of  native  father  was  4.14,  for  the  native-born 
of  foreign  father  4.39,  for  the  foreign-born  5.16.  An 
interesting  indication  of  the  habits  of  life  of  some  of 
the  newer  immigrating  races  is  given  by  the  fact  that 
while,  among  the  Greeks,  32.7  per  cent  of  the  households 
consisted  of  two  persons,  and  18.4  per  cent  of  three  per- 
sons, 8.2  per  cent  consisted  of  ten  or  more  persons. 
Among  the  Servians  18.2  per  cent  of  the  households  con- 
sisted of  ten  or  more  persons,  and  among  the  Slovenians 
1 1.2  per  cent.  This  is  the  result,  as  will  appear  later, 
not  of  large  families,  but  of  the  tendency  on  the  part  of 
the  male  representatives  of  these  races  to  group  them- 


THE   ST.\NDARD   OF  LIVING  237 

selves  together  into  large  cooperative  "households" 
(pp.  21,  22,  23). 

The  average  number  of  persons  per  room  in  the  house- 
holds studied  was  as  follows  :  native-born  white  of  native 
father,  .93  ;  native-born  of  foreign  father,  i.oi ;  foreign- 
born,  1.42  (p.  24).  Only  51.9  per  cent  of  the  native- 
born  white  of  native  father  had  one  or  more  persons  per 
room,  54.7  per  cent  of  the  German  households,  68.5  per 
cent  of  the  Irish,  south  Itahans  91.9  per  cent,  and  Greeks 
98  per  cent.  Of  the  Slovaks,  Slovenians,  and  Syrians, 
90  per  cent  or  more  of  the  households  had  one  or  more 
persons  per  room.  Two  per  cent  of  the  Greeks,  2.6  percent 
of  the  south  Italians,  and  3  per  cent  of  the  Syrians  had 
four  or  more  persons  per  room.  The  number  of  occu- 
pants, per  sleeping  room,  is  of  course  somewhat  higher. 
The  total  average  number  of  persons  per  sleeping  room  in 
the  households  whose  heads  were  native-born  white  of 
native  father  was  1.93;  of  the  foreign-born,  2.39.  Two 
per  cent  of  the  Greek  households  studied  had  six  or 
more  persons  per  sleeping  room,  as  did  2  per  cent  of 
the  south  Italians  and  5.2  per  cent  of  the  Slovenians. 
Fourteen  per  cent  of  all  the  foreign-born  households  slept 
in  all  the  rooms  in  their  apartments,  and  41. i  per  cent  in 
all  the  rooms  except  one,  while  among  the  native-born 
whites  of  native  fathers  2.3  per  cent  slept  in  all  the  rooms, 
and  20.2  per  cent  in  all  the  rooms  but  one. 

The  foregoing  figures  may  be  taken  as  giving  a  reliable 
summary  of  the  amount  of  congestion  in  the  crowded 
districts  of  the  seven  great  cities  mentioned.  It  is 
painfully  evident  that  conditions  exist  on  a  wide  scale 
in  these  centers,  which  are  a  disgrace  to  any  civilized 
country.  A  large  proportion  of  the  lower  classes  of  our 
cities   are   living   under   conditions   which    render   self- 


238  IMMIGRATION 

respect,  cleanliness,  and  even  decency  almost  impossible. 
Moreover,  it  is  apparent  that  the  native-born  whites  of 
native  fathers,  studied  in  this  investigation,  although 
representing  the  lowest  portions  of  that  class,  rank 
decidedly  above  the  foreign-born  as  far  as  can  be  judged 
by  the  degree  of  congestion.  The  native-born  of  foreign 
fathers  stand  between  the  other  two  classes.  A  more 
vivid  and  vital  aspect  may  be  given  to  the  picture  by 
taking  some  specific  instances  of  life  conditions  among 
various  groups  of  the  foreign-born. 

Among  the  Italians  extreme  congestion  had  mani- 
fested itself  as  long  ago  as  the  decade  of  the  nineties. 
The  average  density  of  population  in  the  Itahan  quarter 
of  the  North  End  of  Boston  was  said  to  be  nearly  1.40 
persons  per  room.^  In  the  Italian  quarter  of  Philadelphia 
investigators  found  30  Italian  families,  numbering  123 
persons,  living  in  34  rooms.  In  some  of  the  ItaHan 
tenements  in  this  city,  lamps  were  kept  burning  all  day 
in  some  of  the  rooms,  where  day  could  scarcely  be  distin- 
guished from  night. -^  The  Jews  at  this  time  were  only  a 
little  less  densely  crowded  than  the  Itahans.  In  1891 
nearly  one  fourth  of  the  whole  number  of  Jews  Hving  in 
two  of  the  precincts  of  the  North  End  of  Boston  were 
Hving  with  an  average  of  more  than  two  persons  to  a  room 
and  were  foimd  to  be  very  uncleanly  in  the  care  of  their 
homes.  Among  the  Irish  an  average  of  1.24  persons  per 
room  was  found  in  Boston  in  1891.  On  the  whole  they 
kept  their  tenements  cleaner  than  did  the  Jews  or  Italians.^ 

Since  the  beginning  of  the  twentieth  century,  interest 
in  the  slum  population  of  our  cities  has  centered  itself 

1  Lord,  Trenor,  and  Barrows,  7/a/ia«5  in  America,  p.  70;  Bushee,  F.  A., 
Ethnic  Factors  in  the  Population  of  Boston,  p.  29. 

'  Lord,  Trenor,  and  Barrows,  op.  cit.,  p.  72.  '  Bushee,  op.  cit.,  p.  30. 


THE   STANDARD    OF  LIVING  239 

about  the  Slavic  and  other  races  of  southeastern  Eu- 
rope, even  more  than  about  the  ItaHans  and  Jews. 
About  one  sixth  of  the  entire  population  of  Buffalo,  or 
80,000  individuals,  is  Polish.  Of  these,  about  4000 
families,  representing  20,000  persons,  own  their  homes. 
They  are  said  to  be  thrifty,  clean,  willing,  and  neglected. 
Nearly  all  the  Poles  Hve  in  small  one  and  two  story 
wooden  cottages.  Good  tenement  work  thirty  years 
ago  avoided  the  serious  structural  conditions  which  pre- 
vail in  most  cities.  The  principal  evil  now  in  the  Polish 
section  is  room-overcrowding.  The  two-story  cottages 
hold  six  or  more  families,  while  the  older  one-story 
cottage  was  built  for  four  families,  though  the  owner  is 
Ukely  to  occupy  two  of  the  rear  apartments.  There 
are  15,000  of  these  cottages,  all  subject  to  the  tenement 
law.  A  Pole  was  recently  made  health  commissioner, 
and  gave  promise  of  being  the  best  incumbent  of  that 
office  that  Buffalo  has  ever  had.  That  there  is  plenty 
of  work  for  him  to  do  may  be  judged  from  the  description 
of  some  of  the  conditions  which  prevail. 

"Counting  httle  bedrooms,  hving  rooms,  and  kitchens 
(and  they  are  pretty  nearly  indistinguishable),  Mr. 
Daniels  tells  us  that  half  the  PoHsh  families  in  Buffalo, 
or  40,000  people,  average  two  occupants  to  a  room. 
There  are  beds  under  beds  (trundle  beds,  by  the  way, 
were  once  quite  respectable),  and  mattresses  piled  high 
on  one  bed  during  the  day  will  cover  all  the  floors  at  night. 
Lodgers  in  addition  to  the  family  are  in  some  sections 
almost  the  rule  rather  than  the  exception.  Under  such 
conditions  privacy  of  living,  privacy  of  sleeping,  privacy 
of  dressing,  privacy  of  toilet,  privacy  for  study,  are  all 
impossible,  especially  in  the  winter  season ;  and  those 
who  have  nerves,  which  are  not  confined  to  the  rich 


240  IMMIGRATION 

in  spite  of  an  impression  to  the  contrary,  are  led 
near  to  insanity.  Brothers  and  sisters  sleep  together 
far  beyond  the  age  of  safety.  It  begins  so,  and  parents 
do  not  reaHze  how  fast  children  grow,  or  how  dangerous 
it  all  is."  1 

Even  in  Buffalo,  the  congestion  problem  is  not  limited 
to  the  Poles.  The  author  just  quoted  describes  the 
Italians  as  tending  to  establish  residences  in  old  hotels, 
warehouses,  and  abandoned  homesteads,  and  says, 
''As  late  as  1906  we  found  Italians  Hving  in  large  rooms, 
subdivided  by  head-high  partitions  of  rope  and  calico, 
with  a  separate  family  in  each  division." 

In  Milwaukee  there  are  three  foci  of  the  tenement 
evil,  the  Italian  quarter,  the  PoHsh  quarter,  and  the 
Jewish  quarter.  While  there  are  not  the  large  tene- 
ment houses  that  prevail  in  larger  cities,  there  are 
the  same  evil  conditions  in  the  small  cottages  of  the 
laboring  class.  The  following  paragraphs  give  a  vivid 
picture  of  some  of  the  conditions  in  each  of  these  three 
sections. 

In  the  Itahan  district,  "  Entering  one  of  these  dwellings 
we  had  to  duck  our  heads  to  escape  a  shower  bath  from 
leaking  pipes  above  the  door.  Incidentally,  we  had  to 
dodge  a  crowd  of  the  canine  family  which  did  not  seem 
to  be  particularly  pleased  with  our  visit.  The  rooms 
were  dark.  Something,  which  I  supposed  was  food  or 
intended  for  food,  was  bubbhng  on  a  little  stove.  A 
friendly  goat  was  playing  with  the  baby  on  the  floor, 
and  the  pigeons  cooed  cheerily  near  by.  Through  the 
door  of  the  kitchen  we  got  the  odor  of  the  stable.  The 
horses  had  the  best  room.  In  the  middle  room,  which 
was  absolutely  dark,  on  a  bed  of  indescribable  filth,  lay 

»  Almy,  Frederic,  "The  Huddled  Poles  of  Buffalo,"  The  Survey,  Feb.  4,  191 1. 


THE   STANDARD    OF   LIVING  241 

an  aged  woman,  groaning  with  pain  from  what  I  judged 
to  be  ulcerated  teeth,  but  which  for  aught  she  knew  might 
have  been  a  more  mahgnant  disease.  In  this  single 
dwelling,  which  is  not  unlike  many  we  saw,  there  lived 
together  in  ignorant  misery  one  man,  two  women, 
ten  children,  six  dogs,  two  goats,  five  pigeons,  two 
horses,  and  other  animal  life  which  escaped  our  hurried 
observation." 

"In  the  Ghetto,  in  one  building,  live  seventy-one  peo- 
ple, representing  seventeen  famihes.  The  toilets  in  the 
yard  freeze  in  winter  and  are  clogged  in  summer.  The 
overcrowding  here  is  fearful  and  the  filth  defies  descrip- 
tion. Within  the  same  block  are  crowded  a  number  of 
tenements  three  and  four  stories  high  with  basement 
dwellings.  One  of  these  is  used  as  a  Jewish  synagogue. 
Above  and  beneath  and  to  the  rear  this  building  is 
crowded  with  tenement  dwellers.  The  stairways  are 
rickety,  the  rooms  filthy,  and  all  are  overcrowded.  The 
toilets  for  the  whole  population  are  in  the  cellar  adjoin- 
ing some  of  the  dwelling  rooms,  reached  by  a  short 
stairway.  At  the  time  of  our  visit  the  floors  of  this 
toilet,  both  inside  and  outside,  were  covered  with  hu- 
man excrement  and  refuse  to  a  depth  of  eight  to  twelve 
inches.  Into  this  den  of  horrors  all  the  population, 
male  and  female,  had  to  go." 

A  typical  dwelhng  of  the  PoHsh  working  people  is  thus 
described.  "There  is  an  entrance,  perhaps  under  the 
steps,  which  leads  to  the  apartments  below.  In  this 
semibasement  in  the  front  lives  a  family.  There  are 
perhaps  two  rooms,  sometimes  only  one.  In  the  rear  of 
this  same  basement  lives  another  family.  Above,  on 
the  first  floor,  Hves  another  family,  hkewise  in  two  or 
three  small  rooms;    and  in  the  rear  is  another.     Thus 


242  IMMIGRATION 

four  or  more  families  live  in  one  small  cottage  —  and, 
often,  in  true  tenement  style,  they  'take  in'  boarders. 
.  .  .  Here,  together,  live  men,  women,  children,  dogs, 
pigeons,  and  goats  in  regular  tenement  and  slum 
conditions."  ^ 

Such  instances  as  these,  which  might  be  multipHed 
almost  indefmitely,  are  individual  manifestations  of 
conditions  which  are  represented  en  masse  by  the  figures 
of  the  Immigration  Commission.  It  is  apparent  that 
slum  conditions  exist,  fully  developed,  in  other  places 
than  the  great  cities,  and  in  other  types  of  building  than 
the  regulation  tenement.  As  will  be  seen  later,  they  may 
be  found  in  communities  which  do  not  come  under  the 
head  of  cities  at  all.  The  slum  is  a  condition,  not  a 
place,  and  will  crop  up  in  the  most  unexpected  places, 
whenever  vigilance  is  relaxed.  The  slum  can  never  be 
eradicated  by  erecting  model  dwellings,  however  well 
planned,  nor  by  any  other  superficial  method  alone. 
The  foundation  of  the  slum  rests  in  the  social  and  eco- 
nomic relations  of  society,  and  can  be  effectually  attacked 
only  through  them. 

In  the  foregoing  quotations,  frequent  reference  is  made 
to  the  filthy  condition  in  which  the  dwellings  of  the 
foreign-born  are  kept.  It  is  the  current  idea  among  a 
large  class  of  people  that  extreme  uncleanliness  charac- 
terizes the  great  majority  of  immigrant  homes.  Un- 
fortunately there  is  all  too  large  a  basis  of  truth  for  this 
impression.  Yet  there  is  undoubtedly  much  exaggera- 
tion on  this  point  in  the  popular  mind.  The  Immigra- 
tion Commission  found  that  out  of  every  loo  homes 
investigated  in  its  study  of  city  conditions,   45   were 

1  Thompson,  Carl  D.,  "Socialists  and  Slums,"  Milwaukee,  Tke  Survey,  Dec. 
3,  1910.     Cf.  Byington,  Margaret  F.,  Homestead,  pp.  131-136. 


THE   STANDARD   OF  LIVING  243 

kept  in  good  condition,  and  84  in  either  good  or  fair  con- 
dition, though  the  foreign-born  were  inferior  in  this 
respect  to  the  native-born.  In  many  cases  the  filthy 
appearance  of  the  streets  in  the  tenement  districts  is 
due  to  neghgence  on  the  part  of  city  authorities,  rather 
than  to  indifference  on  the  part  of  the  householders. 
"In  frequent  cases  the  streets  are  dirty,  while  the  homes 
are  clean."  ^  Not  only  is  it  an  error  to  suppose  that  all 
immigrants  are  filthy,  but  it  is  also  untrue  that  all  im- 
migrants who  are  filthy  are  so  from  choice.  While  the 
standards  of  decency  and  cleanliness  of  many  of  our 
immigrant  races  are  undoubtedly  much  below  those  of 
the  natives,  there  are  many  alien  families  who  would 
gladly  live  in  a  different  manner,  did  not  the  very  condi- 
tions of  their  existence  seem  to  thrust  this  one  upon 
them,  or  the  hardship  and  sordidness  of  their  daily  Hfe 
quench  whatever  native  ambition  for  better  things  they 
might  originally  have  had. 

In  the  foregoing  paragraphs  mention  has  been  made  of 
the  boarder  as  a  characteristic  feature  of  Hfe  in  the  tene- 
ments. He  is,  in  fact,  a  characteristic  feature  of  the 
family  hfe  of  the  newer  immigrant  wherever  found. 
Since  so  large  a  proportion  of  the  modern  immigrants 
are  single  men,  or  men  unaccompanied  by  their  wives 
(see  p.  191),  there  is  an  enormous  demand  for  accommoda- 
tions for  male  immigrants  who  have  no  homes  of  their 
own.  This  demand  is  met  in  two  main  ways.  The  most 
natural,  and  perhaps  the  least  objectionable,  of  the  two, 
where  there  are  a  certain  number  of  immigrant  families 
of  the  specified  race  already  in  this  country,  is  for  a  family 
which  has  a  small  apartment  to  take  in  one  or  more 

•  Cf.  description  of  conditions  in  a  manufacturing  town,  Fitch,  John  A., 

Lackawanna,  The  Survey,  Oct.  7,  191 1,  p.  qjO. 


244  IMMIGRATION 

boarders  or  lodgers  of  their  own  nationality.  In  this 
way  they  are  able  to  add  to  their  meager  income,  and 
thereby  to  increase  the  amount  of  their  monthly  savings, 
or  perhaps  to  help  pay  off  the  mortgage  on  the  house  if 
they  happen  to  be  the  owners.  The  motive  is  not  always 
a  financial  one,  however,  but  occasionally  the  desire  to 
furnish  a  home  for  some  newcomer  from  the  native  land, 
with  whom  they  are  acquainted,  or  in  whom  they  are 
interested  for  some  other  reason.^  The  second  way  of 
solving  the  problem  is  for  a  number  of  men  to  band  them- 
selves together,  hire  an  apartment  of  some  sort,  and 
carry  on  cooperative  housekeeping  in  one  way  or  another. 
A  description  of  these  households  will  be  given  later 
(p.  247). 

The  keeping  of  boarders  or  lodgers-  is  a  very  wide- 
spread practice  among  our  recently  immigrating  famihes. 

Among  the  households  studied  by  the  Immigration 
Commission  in  its  investigation  of  cities,  13  per  cent  of 
the  native-born  white  households  kept  boarders,  and 
27.2  per  cent  of  the  foreign-born.  The  following  foreign- 
born  nationalities  had  high  percentages,  as  shown  by  the 
figures  :  Russian  Hebrews,  32.1  per  cent ;  north  Italians, 
42.9  per  cent;  Slovaks,  41  per  cent;  Magyars,  47.3  per 
cent ;  Lithuanians,  70.3  per  cent.  A  similar  showing  is 
made  by  the  figures  given  in  the  report  of  the  Immi- 
gration Commission  on  Immigrants  in  Manufacturing 
and  Mining  (abstract  quoted).  The  percentage  of  house- 
holds keeping  boarders,  as  shown  in  that  report,  is  as 
follows : 


>  Balch,  Emily  G.,  Our  Slavic  Fellow  Citizens,  p.  349. 

'For   convenience'    sake,  the  term  "boarder"  will  hereafter  be  used  in  the 
place  of  the  clumsy  phrase  "  boarders  and  lodgers." 


THE   STANDARD    OF  LIVING  245 


PERCENTAGE  OF  HOUSEHOLDS  KEEPING  BOARDERS  1 

Nativity  Per  Cent 

Native-born  white  of  native  father lo.o 

Native-born  of  foreign  father 10.9 

Foreign-born       32.9 

Race  (foreign-born)  — 

Norwegian 3.8 

Bohemian  and  Moravian 8.8 

Croatian 59.5 

South  ItaHan 33.5 

Magyar 53-6 

PoHsh 48.4 

Roumanian 77.9 

Servian 92.8 

The  average  number  of  boarders  per  household,  based 
on  the  number  of  households  keeping  boarders,  was  as 
follows : 

AVERAGE  NUMBER  OF  BOARDERS  PER  HOUSEHOLD 
BASED  ON  THE  NUMBER  OF  HOUSEHOLDS  KEEP- 
ING BOARDERS  2 

Nativity  Number 

Native-born  white  of  native  father 1.68 

Native-born  of  foreign  father 1.52 

Foreign-born 3.53 

Race  (foreign-born)  — 

Bulgarian 8.29 

Croatian 6.39 

Roumanian 12.23 

Servian 7-25 

This  prevalent  custom  of  taking  boarders  brings  numer- 
ous evils  in  its  train.  Foremost  among  these  is  the 
absolute  sacrifice  of  family  life  in  the  households.     It  is 

>  Rcpt.  Imm.  Com.,  Imms.  in  Mfg.  and  Min.,  Abs.,  p.  147.        '  IbiJ.,  p.  My. 


246  IMMIGRATION 

difficult  at  best  to  maintain  a  decent  degree  of  privacy 
when  the  family  is  left  to  itself;  the  intrusion  of  out- 
siders makes  it  wholly  impossible.  Secondly,  the  taking 
of  boarders  tends  to  increase  a  congestion  which  is 
likely  already  to  be  extreme.  Thirdly,  it  lays  additional 
burdens  upon  the  already  overworked  housewife.  Its 
great  advantage  is,  of  course,  the  increase  of  the  family 
income,  sometimes  to  an  amount  almost  double  that 
which  could  be  obtained  without  the  boarders.  Among 
the  Slavs,  for  example,  women  are  rare,  and  are  regarded 
as  very  valuable,  first  as  wives,  and  second  as  a  means 
whereby  a  man  may  take  boarders.^  The  arrangements 
between  the  boarders  and  the  housewife  diflPer  in  different 
locaUties,  and  under  different  conditions.  In  a  Colorado 
mining  camp  $10  a  month  is  the  customary  price  for  a 
regular  boarder.  A  very  common  arrangement  is  for 
the  men  to  buy  each  his  own  food,  and  pay  the  woman 
to  cook  it.  The  sums  paid  range  from  $2  to  $4  a  month 
for  lodging,  washing,  and  cooking. 

The  life  of  such  a  housewife  in  a  coal  mining  community 
has  been  described  in  the  following  words  :  "The  status 
of  the  immigrant  housewife  from  the  south  and  east 
of  Europe  is  deplorable.  The  boarding  system  followed 
is  one  whereby  a  fixed  sum  is  paid  for  lodging,  cooking, 
washing,  and  mending ;  an  individual  food  account 
being  kept  with  each  lodger.  The  housewife  has  the 
beds  to  make  each  day  for  a  dozen  men,  their  clothing  to 
wash  and  mend,  their  meals  to  prepare.  In  many  cases 
she  has  also  to  buy  the  food,  which  necessitates  many 
visits  to  the  store  and  separate  purchases  for  each  boarder. 
She  has  also  to  carry  all  the  water  used  from  the  hydrant 
or  well,  which  may  be  ten  or  one  hundred  yards  distant. 

'  Balch,  op.  cit.,  p.  349. 


THE   STANDARD   OF  LIVING  247 

When  the  men  return  from  work  it  is  a  part  of  her 
duties  to  help  them  in  their  abhitions  by  scrubbing  their 
backs.  There  are  also  numerous  children  to  care  for  and 
scores  of  other  tasks  demanding  her  attention.  Under 
these  conditions  the  marked  untidiness  of  the  immigrant 
households  is  not  to  be  wondered  at."  ^ 

The  second  typical  method  of  providing  for  the  single 
male  immigrant,  mentioned  above,  is  cooperative  house- 
keeping on  the  part  of  a  group  of  men,  either  with  or 
without  a  female  housekeeper.  This  practice  is  very 
common  among  many  of  the  newer  races  of  immigrants, 
as  has  been  suggested.  It  is  a  makeshift  to  which  the 
foreigner  is  driven  by  the  absence  of  a  normal  number  of 
women  of  his  own  race.  In  households  of  this  sort  are 
developed  some  of  the  very  worst  conditions  to  be  found 
among  our  foreign  residents. 

Under  this  system,  a  number  of  men  of  a  certain 
foreign  race  club  together  and  hire  an  apartment,  con- 
sisting of  a  few  rooms  in  a  regular  tenement  house,  or, 
very  frequently,  a  large  storeroom  or  warehouse,  which 
thereupon  becomes  their  home.  In  order  to  minimize 
expense,  the  greatest  possible  number  of  beds  are 
pro\dded  in  each  room.  If  the  apartment  consists  of 
a  storeroom,  it  is  often  fitted  up  with  tiers  of  bunks 
along  the  sides.  Such  a  room  may  be  used  by  two  sets  of 
men,  one  during  the  day  and  one  during  the  night.  If 
some  of  the  men  are  peddlers,  the  peanut  stands  or 
barrows  will  be  kept  at  night  in  the  unoccupied  spaces  in 
the  room.  The  lack  of  woman's  care  in  the  upkeep  of 
such  apartments  is  very  manifest. 

>  Lauck,  W.  Jett,  "The  Bituminous  Coal  Miner  and  Coke  Worker  of  Western 
Pennsylvania,"  The  Survey,  April  i,  igii.  Cf.  also  Roberts,  Peter,  AnlhraciU 
Coal  Communities,  p.  137. 


248  IMMIGRATION 

The  meals  are  either  prepared  in  the  apartment  or 
secured  at  some  near-by  restaurant,  or  the  two  methods 
are  combined.  In  the  absence  of  all  semblance  of  family 
life,  every  possible  expedient  to  reduce  expense  is  adopted, 
with  the  unfortunate  results  that  might  be  expected. 
The  following  description  of  such  a  household  will  give  a 
concrete  idea  of  the  type  : 

"To-day,  in  a  certain  mining  town,  there  are  fourteen 
Slavs,  all  unmarried,  and  with  only  themselves  to  support, 
who  rent  one  large,  formerly  abandoned,  storeroom. 
This  is  taken  care  of  by  a  housekeeper,  who  also  prepares 
the  meals  for  the  men.  Each  man  has  his  own  tin  plate, 
tin  knife,  fork,  and  cup ;  he  has  his  own  ham  and  bread, 
and  a  place  in  which  to  keep  them.  Some  things  they 
buy  in  common,  the  distribution  being  made  by  the  house- 
keeper. For  beds  the  men  sleep  on  bunks  arranged  along 
the  walls  and  resembling  shelves  in  a  grocery  store. 
Each  has  his  own  blanket ;  each  carries  it  out-of-doors  to 
air  when  he  gets  up  in  the  morning,  and  back  again  when 
he  returns  from  his  work  at  night.  The  monthly  cost  of 
living  to  each  of  these  men  is  not  over  four  dollars.  They 
spend  but  little  on  clothes  the  year  round,  contenting 
themselves  with  the  cheapest  kind  of  material,  and  not 
infrequently  wearing  cast-off  garments  purchased  of  some 
second-hand  dealer.  For  fuel  they  burn  coal  from  the 
culm-banks  or  wood  from  along  the  highway,  which 
costs  them  nothing  but  their  labor  in  gathering  it."^ 

That  housing  conditions  such  as  have  been  portrayed 
above  should  prevail  so  generally  all  over  the  country 
is  a  serious  indictment  against  the  social  and  industrial 
organization  of  the  United  States.     It  has  been  intimated 

»  Warne,  F.  J.,  The  Slav  Invasion,  p.  68.  Cf.  Hunt,  Milton  B.,  "The  Hous- 
ing of  Non-Family  Groups  of  Men  in  Chicago,"  Am.  Jour,  of  Soc,  i6:  145. 


THE   STANDARD   OF  LIVING  249 

that  these  conditions  are  not  in  all  cases  due  to  the  choice 
of  the  immigrant,  or  to  the  lack  of  desire  for  better  things 
on  his  part.  Whether  they  are  not,  to  a  large  degree, 
actually  due  to  the  presence  of  the  immigrant  in  this 
country  is  quite  another  matter,  upon  the  decision  of 
which  must  rest  much  of  the  final  judgment  as  to  the 
desirability  of  immigration  under  the  present  system. 
Throughout  the  study  of  housing  conditions  among 
the  foreign-born,  it  becomes  more  and  more  evident  that 
there  is  a  marked  distinction  not  only  between  the  homes 
of  the  native-born  and  the  foreign-born,  but  between 
those  of  the  older  and  newer  immigrants.  By  what- 
ever test  the  standards  of  each  class  are  measured,  there 
is  almost  invariably  a  decided  discrepancy  in  favor  of  the 
older  races.  As  regards  the  number  of  rooms  per  apart- 
ment, the  size  of  households,  the  number  of  persons  per 
room,  the  number  of  boarders,  the  care  and  upkeep  of  the 
apartment,  the  Enghsh,  Scandinavians,  Germans,  and 
Irish  come  much  nearer  to  what  might  be  considered  a 
reasonable  American  standard  than  do  the  Italians, 
either  north  or  south,  the  Slavs  (except  perhaps  the 
Bohemians  and  Moravians),  the  Greeks,  Syrians, 
Bulgarians,  etc.  This  distinction  is  well  brought  out  in 
mining  localities,  where  the  newer  races  have  displaced 
the  older  within  recent  years.  A  graphic  comparison  is 
given  by  Mr.  F.  J.  Warne  in  his  book,  Tlic  Slav  Invasion 
and  the  Mine  Workers.  He  says  that,  by  the  time  of 
the  coming  of  the  Slavs,  the  Irish,  English,  Welsh, 
Scotch,  and  German  mine  workers  had  grown  accustomed 
to  a  "social  Hfe  of  some  dignity  and  comfort."  The 
English-speaking  mine  worker  wanted  a  home  and 
family.  That  home  was  usually  a  neat,  two-story  frame 
house,  with  porch  and  yard.     Within  were  pictures  on 


250  IMMIGRATION 

the  walls,  and  carpets  on  the  floors  of  the  best  rooms. 
He  wished  to  have  no  one  as  a  permanent  resident  of  the 
house  save  his  own  family,  or  very  near  relatives.  He 
desired  his  wife  to  be  well  dressed  and  comfortable,  and 
his  children  to  have  the  benefits  of  school.  His  wants 
were  always  just  beyond  his  wages,  and  always  increasing. 

The  Slav  had  no  wife  and  children,  and  wished  none. 
"He  was  satisfied  to  live  in  almost  any  kind  of  a  place, 
to  wear  almost  anything  that  would  clothe  his  nakedness, 
and  to  eat  any  kind  of  food  that  would  keep  body  and 
soul  together."  He  was  content  to  live  in  a  one-room 
hut,  built  of  driftwood  and  roofed  with  tin  from  old 
powder  cans.  In  the  mining  towns  he  drifted  to  the 
poorer  and  cheaper  sections  to  hve.  He  did  not  care 
with  whom  or  with  how  many  he  lived,  provided  they 
were  of  his  own  nationahty.  When  two  such  standards 
are  brought  into  competition,  it  is  inevitable  that  the 
higher  should  yield  in  some  way  or  other. 

This  difference  in  standards  is  undoubtedly  due  in 
part  to  a  difference  in  natural  instincts  and  aptitudes  for 
decency  and  cleanHness  between  the  common  classes 
of  northern  and  southern  Europe,  but  probably  more  to 
the  customary  standards  to  which  they  have  become 
habituated  in  their  native  land.  The  effect  is  the  same, 
whatever  the  cause.  The  new  immigrant  desires  a  cer- 
tain improvement  in  his  standard  as  a  reward  for  emigra- 
tion, but  the  new  standard  need  not  be  by  any  means  the 
equivalent  of  that  of  the  immigrant  races  which  have  pre- 
ceded him.  As  long  as  we  continue  to  draw  our  immi- 
grants from  more  and  more  backward  and  undeveloped 
nations  and  races  we  may  expect  to  see  a  progressive  deg- 
radation in  the  customary  standard  of  the  working  people. 

There  are  many  other  considerations  besides  conges- 


THE   STANDARD   OF  LIVING  251 

tion  which  determine  the  character  of  hfe  in  the  slums. 
Many  of  these  have  already  been  suggested  in  preceding 
paragraphs.  Prominent  among  them  are  ventilation, 
sanitary  and  cooking  facilities,  Hght,  water  supply, 
healthfulness  of  surroundings,  and  play  room  for  children. 
The  degree  in  which  evils  exist  in  these  particulars,  in  any 
locality,  depends  primarily  upon  the  stringency  of  the 
local  tenement  and  public  health  laws,  and  the  energy 
and  faithfulness  of  their  enforcement.  Much  is  being 
accomplished  and  has  been  accomphshed  in  recent  years 
in  the  direction  of  securing  better  conditions.  Yet  there 
is  almost  infinite  room  for  improvement.  The  futility  of 
relying  upon  the  individual  benevolence  and  humanity 
of  builders,  owners,  and  agents  was  demonstrated  long 
ago.  Here,  of  all  places,  eternal  vigilance  on  the  part 
of  the  better  classes  of  society  is  the  price  of  safety. 
Descriptions  of  the  homes  of  the  foreign-born  are  full  of 
accounts  of  dark  and  absolutely  unventilated  bedrooms, 
houses  unprovided  with  any  water  supply,  filthy  outdoor 
closets  and  privy  vaults,  toilets  used  by  ten  or  twelve 
families  conjointly,  buildings  covering  the  entire  lot, 
dooryards  flooded  with  stagnant  water  and  refuse, 
basements  half  filled  with  water,  domestic  animals 
sharing  the  limited  accommodations  with  the  family, 
and  a  host  of  other  horrors.  Detailed  descriptions  of 
these  dwellings  are  unnecessary.  Any  one  interested 
may  find  them  in  abundance  in  the  accounts  of  housing 
conditions  in  the  poorer  sections  of  our  cities  and  towns, 
for,  as  the  Immigration  Commission  has  amply  demon- 
strated, the  slum,  wherever  found,  is  distinctively  the 
home  of  the  foreign-born.^ 

'  See,  for  instance,  Riis,  Jacob,  How  the  Other  Half  Lives ;  Breckenridge, 
Sophonisba,  and  Abbott,  Edith,  "Housinp  Conditions  in  Chicago,"  Am.  Jour. 
0/  Sflc,  16:  4  and  17;  i,  2;  "The  Housing  Awakening,"  series  in  The  Sur- 
vey, beginning  Nov.  19,  1910. 


252  IMMIGRATION 

It  is  almost  superfluous  to  add  that  there  are  thousands 
of  immigrants,  even  of  the  newer  races,  who  hve  in 
conditions  wholly  different  from  those  we  have  been 
discussing.  Individuals  of  every  race,  in  large  numbers, 
have  succeeded  in  raising  themselves  from  the  lowly 
estate  of  their  compatriots,  and  establishing  homes  of 
culture  and  refinement,  even  of  luxury.  Examples  of 
this  class  are  prominent,  and  are  frequently  referred  to. 
Yet  in  spite  of  this,  the  slum  remains  the  characteristic 
home  of  the  average  immigrant  to  this  country,  and  as 
such  it  must  be  reckoned  with. 

The  influence  of  the  slum  must  of  necessity  be  hamper- 
ing and  degrading  to  its  denizens.  No  poorer  training 
school  for  American  citizens  could  be  devised.  Not  only  is 
the  life  prejudicial  to  health  and  morals,  and  destructive 
of  ambition,  but  it  precludes  practically  all  inci- 
dental or  unconscious  contact  with  the  uphfting  influ- 
ences of  American  life.  Almost  the  only  actively  as- 
similating agency  with  which  the  slum  dweller  comes  into 
immediate  relationship  is  the  public  school,  and  this 
lacks  much  of  its  value  as  an  assimilating  force  in  dis- 
tricts which  are  so  largely  foreign  that  the  pupils  meet 
few,  if  any,  children  of  native-born  parents.  Any  prac- 
tical program  for  solving  the  immigration  problem  must 
attack  the  slum  boldly.  In  the  words  of  Mr.  Frederic 
Almy,  "You  cannot  make  a  silk  purse  out  of  a  sow's 
car,  and  you  cannot  make  an  American  citizen  out  of  a 
tenement  slum.  The  slum  must  go.  If  you  spare  the 
slum,  you  will  spoil  the  child."  ^ 

In  regard  to  the  housing  conditions  of  the  foreign-born 
outside  of  the  larger  centers  of  population  it  is  more 
difiicult    to    make    generalizations.     Fortunately,    it   is 

'  The  Survey,  Feb.  4,  191 1,  p.  77i- 


THE   STANDARD   OF  LIVING  253 

also  less  necessary.  Some  of  the  foremost  housing  evils 
are  essentially  city  matters.  Particularly  is  it  true  of 
immigrants  who  have  estabHshcd  themselves  in  inde- 
pendent agriculture,  that  they  have  made  a  long  step 
toward  Americanization.  While  every  grade  of  dwelling 
may  be  found  among  foreign-born  agriculturists,  from 
the  wretched  hovel  of  the  Italian  market  gardener  to 
the  home  of  the  Swedish  farmer  of  the  Northwest  which 
ranks  with  the  finest  in  the  land,  yet  the  alien  who  takes 
up  his  abode  in  the  country  has,  in  many  respects,  re- 
moved himself  from  the  general  problem  of  the  immi- 
grant, and  his  hving  conditions  can,  with  a  reasonable 
degree  of  safety,  be  left  to  look  after  themselves.  Yet  it 
has  been  abundantly  proved  that  slum  conditions  can 
exist  even  in  the  country,  and  in  small  towns.  This  is 
especially  true  in  mining  camps,  and  in  the  smaller 
manufacturing  communities.  Some  of  the  worst  con- 
ditions of  the  most  crowded  sections  of  the  cities  are 
reproduced  in  the  shacks  of  the  miners  or  the  dwelhngs 
of  the  factory  hands.  Overcrowding,  bad  ventilation, 
unsanitary  toilet  facilities,  inadequate  heating,  and 
filth  are  not  city  monopoHes.  The  taking  of  boarders 
is  especially  common  in  these  communities,  and,  in  the 
mining  towns,  brings  a  peculiar  evil  with  it,  in  addition  to 
all  the  regular  disadvantages.  This  Hes  in  the  necessity 
which  every  mine  worker  is  under  of  bathing  every  day 
after  work.  In  the  absence  of  bathrooms,  ablutions  are 
customarily  performed  in  a  tub  set  in  the  kitchen,  and  in 
the  crowded  quarters  of  the  miner's  cabin,  the  children 
of  the  household  are  accustomed  to  the  sight  of  nudity 
from  their  infancy  up,  to  the  serious  injury  of  their 
moral  sense. ^ 

'  Roberts,  op.  cit.,  p.  143. 


254  IMMIGRATION 

It  is  too  often  true  that  the  worst  conditions  prevail 
in  the  company  houses.  The  extreme  monotony  of  these 
identical  rows  of  ugly  dwelhngs  is  in  itself  sufficiently 
depressing.  But  in  addition,  it  appears  that  many 
employers  are  wholly  oblivious  to  the  higher  needs  of 
their  employees,  and  provide  the  most  meager  shelter 
which  will  suffice  to  keep  body  and  soul  together,  charg- 
ing therefor  exorbitant  rates.  To  say  that  these  men 
and  women  are  treated  like  beasts,  is  putting  the  case 
too  mildly,  for  no  well-to-do  person  would  house  a  valu- 
able animal  as  some  of  these  human  workers  are  housed. 
The  shifting  character  of  the  population  and  the  un- 
certain duration  of  a  mining  camp  offer  a  quasi  justifi- 
cation for  some  of  these  evils.  Yet  a  self-respecting 
nation  should  not  permit  any  type  of  industry  to  persist 
which  requires  its  army  of  workers  to  live  as  do  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  these  faithful  toilers.^ 

In  regard  to  the  food  of  our  immigrant  population,  such 
studies  of  individual  races  as  have  been  made  seem  to 
indicate  that,  while  the  dietary  of  the  average  foreign 
family  falls  far  short  of  what  a  native  American  would 
consider  a  satisfactory  standard  and  is  very  deficient  in 
variety,  yet  it  is  ordinarily  sufficient  in  quantity  and  in 
amount  of  nourishment.  Of  course  there  are  countless 
immigrant  families  of  the  poorer  sort,  just  as  there  are 
of  natives,  who  are  habitually  undernourished ;  yet  the 
ordinary  immigrant  working  family  or  individual  ap- 
pears not  to  suffer  for  lack  of  sustaining  food.     This  con- 

1  For  full  descriptions  of  life  in  mining  and  manufacturing  villages,  see  Roberts, 
op.  cil.,  Chs.  IV  and  V;  Lauck,  W.  Jett,  The  Survey,  Apr.  i,  igii ;  Fitch,  John 
A.,  The  Survey,  Oct.  7,  igii;  Balch,  op.  cil.,  pp.  372-375;  Wame,  op.  cit., 
Ch.  VI.  For  an  account  of  the  life  of  some  of  our  foreign  agriculturists,  see 
Cance,  Alexander  E.,  "Piedmontese  on  the  Mississippi,"  The  Survey,  Sept.  2, 
1911 ;  Lord,  Trenor,  and  Barrows,  op.  cit.,  Ch.  VI;    Balch,  op.  cit.,  Ch.  XV. 


THE   STANDARD   OF  LIVING  255 

dition  is  made  possible  by  a  long  habitude  in  European 
countries  to  an  exceedingly  simple  diet,  and  by  a  result- 
ing knowledge  of  cheap  and  nourishing  foods.  The  food 
item  in  the  budget  of  an  immigrant  family  from  southern 
or  eastern  Europe  is  almost  incredible  to  an  American. 
The  average  cost  of  food  for  an  individual  immigrant 
mine  worker  in  Pennsylvania  runs  from  about  $4  to 
$10  per  month.  Among  the  Italians  in  Boston,  dur- 
ing the  winter  months,  about  a  dollar  a  week  will  suffice 
for  the  food  of  a  man.  The  south  Italian  berry  pickers 
in  New  Jersey  are  said  to  be  able  to  get  along  on  as  little 
as  25  cents  per  week,  and  other  races  live  almost  as 
cheaply.^ 

There  appears  to  be  a  considerable  difference  in  this 
respect  between  the  different  races,  even  among  the 
newer  immigrants.  The  lowest  standard  prevails  among 
the  south  Italians,  Greeks,  Syrians,  Bravas,  etc.  The 
Slavs  are  inclined  to  spend  more  of  their  increasing  in- 
come on  food ;  particularly  is  meat  a  more  important 
part  of  their  diet.  The  Jews  are  said  to  rank  well  above 
the  Italians  in  this  regard. 

The  quality  and  preparation  of  food  leaves  much  to 
be  desired.  Itahan  children  are  sent  to  the  markets  of 
Boston  to  gather  vegetables  which  have  been  thrown 
away  as  unfit  for  use.  A  brief  walk  through  the  East 
Side  of  New  York,  with  an  eye  on  the  push  carts,  will 
convince  one  of  the  undesirable  quaUty  of  some,  at  least, 
of  the  food  eaten  by  the  residents  of  that  section.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  Greek  laborers  on  the  railroads  of  the 
West  are  said  to  five  remarkably  well,  and  themselves 

'  Cf.  Balch,  op.  cit.,  pp.  363-364;  Lauck,  The  Survey,  Apr.  i,  igii,  p.  48; 
Roberts,  op.  cit.,  pp.  103  ff. ;  Bushee,  op.  cit.,  p.  29;  Rept.  Imm.  Com.,  Recent 
Imms.  in  .\gr.,  Abs.,  p.  sg;  Americans  in  Process,  p.  141. 


256  IMMIGRATION 

complain  of  the  staleness  of  American  food,  and  object 
to  our  practice  of  putting  everything  up  in  "boxes."  ^ 
In  general,  the  conclusion  of  investigators  in  regard  to 
the  food  of  our  working  classes  seems  to  be  that  the  faults 
of  their  dietary  lie,  not  so  much  in  the  failure  to  spend  an 
adequate  amount  of  money  for  food,  as  in  wasteful  and 
ill-judged  purchases,  unsatisfactory  preparation,  and 
improper  balance  between  the  essential  food  elements 
(especially  lack  of  sufficient  proteids)  and  too  much  fat. 
It  is  not  unlikely  that  in  this  particular  the  immigrants 
fare  better  than  the  natives  in  the  same  class.  It  is 
certainly  probable  that,  taken  on  the  whole,  the  standard 
of  food  of  the  immigrant  families  in  this  country  is  su- 
perior to  that  to  which  they  were  accustomed  in  their 
native  land. 

There  is  probably  no  other  aspect  of  life  in  which  the 
immigrant  shows  at  least  a  superficial  Americanization 
more  quickly  than  in  the  matter  of  clothing.  It  is  a 
matter  where  imitation  is  easy,  and  in  fact  almost  in- 
evitable. Any  purchases  of  clothing  made  after  the 
immigrant's  arrival  in  this  country  must,  almost  of 
necessity,  be  American  in  type.  And  the  younger 
generation,  at  least,  are  eager  to  have  their  exterior  ap- 
pearance correspond  to  that  of  the  older  residents  of  their 
adopted  country,  —  so  eager,  often,  as  to  lead  them  to 
adopt  the  most  extreme  of  the  new  fashions  in  cut  and 
fitting,  however  cheap  and  flimsy  the  materials  may  be. 
In  fact,  this  Americanization  affects  the  immigrants  even 
before  they  leave  their  native  home.  Officials  on  Ellis 
Island  say  that  it  is  rare  nowadays  to  see  groups  of 
immigrants  arriving  clad  in  their  picturesque  European 
costumes ;    the  prevailing  garb  now  is  of  the  American 

1  Cf.  StreightolT,  F.  11.,  Standard  of  Living,  Ch.  VI. 


THE   STANDARD   OF  LIVING  257 

type.  It  is  a  strange  fact  that  some  writers,  apparently- 
oblivious  of  the  ease  of  this  transition,  seem  to  regard 
American  clothes  as  an  evidence  of  real  assimilation. 

As  regards  physical  adequacy  of  clothing,  the  immi- 
grant is  probably  as  well  off  on  the  average  as  his  native 
fellow-worker.  It  is  not  likely  that  any  large  propor- 
tion of  our  working  classes  actually  suffer  physical  harm 
from  insufficient  clothing,  unless  it  be  through  lack  of 
proper  protection  against  dampness,  particularly  in  the 
matter  of  shoes.'  In  respect  to  cleanliness,  and  even 
decency,  there  is  frequently  room  for  improvement  among 
the  immigrants,  just  as  there  is  among  the  native- 
born.  There  is,  on  the  other  hand,  a  recognized  danger 
that  the  desire  for  a  fashionable  appearance,  particularly 
on  the  part  of  the  women,  may  lead  to  an  extreme  ex- 
penditure for  dress,  unwarranted  by  the  family  income.^ 

*  Ibid.,  p.  106.  *  Americans  in  Process,  pp.  142-143. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE    STANDARD   OF    LIVING    {conthiued) 

The  standard  of  living  of  any  family  or  individual  ^ 
is  the  resultant  of  two  principal  factors.  These  are  the 
desires  and  appetites  of  the  individual  or  family  and  the 
amount  of  income  available  for  the  gratification  of  those 
desires  and  appetites.  The  casual  observer,  in  forming 
his  estimate  of  the  immigrant,  is  in  danger  of  forgetting 
the  second  of  these  factors,  and  of  assuming  that  because 
the  immigrant  is  found  Uving  in  a  certain  status,  he  is 
therefore  satisfied  with  that  status  and  has  no  ambition 
to  change  it.  It  has  already  been  hinted,  in  the  fore- 
going paragraphs,  that  this  is  not  the  case.  A  full 
understanding  of  the  limitations  under  which  the  im- 
migrant is  placed  can  come  only  with  a  study  of  the 
customary  wages  or  income  of  the  class  to  which  he 
belongs. 

The  matter  of  wages  is  one  of  the  easiest  aspects  of  the 
life  of  the  immigrant  about  which  to  secure  reliable  data. 
It  lends  itself  readily  to  exact  measurement,  averaging, 
and  tabulation.  It  is  a  subject  upon  which  the  immi- 
grant himself  can  give  accurate  information  if  he  is  so 
inclined.  As  a  result,  there  is  a  considerable  mass  of 
data  in  regard  to  the  earnings  of  the  foreign-born,  and 
it  is  possible  to  make  trustworthy  generahzations  there- 
upon. The  latest  and  most  inclusive  figures  on  this 
point  are  those  furnished  by  the  Immigration  Commis- 

1  Conditioned,  of  course,  by  the  general  standard  of  the  society. 

258 


THE   STANDARD   OF   LIVING 


259 


AVERAGE    ANNUAL    EARNINGS    OF    EMPLOYEES    IN 
THE   INDUSTRIES   SPECIFIED  ' 


Industry 


Iron  and  steel  manufac- 
turing       

Slaughtering  and  meat 
packing 

Bituminous  coal  mining 

Glass  manufacturing 

Woolen  and  worsted 
manufacturing       .     . 

Silk  goods  manufactur- 
ing and  dyeing       .     . 

Cotton  goods  manufac- 
turing   

Clothing  manufacturing 

Boot  and  shoe  manufac- 
turing        

Furniture  manufactur- 
ing  

Collar,  cuff,  and  shirt 
manufacturing       .     . 

Leather  tanning,  curry- 
ing, and  finishing  .     . 

Glove  manufacturing     . 

Oil  refining 

Sugar  refining  .     .     .     . 

Cigars  and  tobacco  man- 
ufacturing   .     .     .     . 


Per  Cent  of 
Employees 
Foreign- 
born 


57-7 
60.7 

61. Q 

39-3 
61.9 

34-3 

68.7 
72.2 

27-3 
59-1 
134 

67.0 

33-5 
66.7 

85.3 
32.6 


Average  Annual  Earnings 


Males,  18  or 
Over 


$346 

557 
443 
574 

346 

431 

2 

513 

502 

575 

637 

431 
62s 

591 
522 

1.92' 


Male  Heads 
of  Families 


$409 
578 

451 
596 

400 
448 

470 
530 

573 
598 
662 

5" 
650 
662 
549 


Average 
Family  In- 


$568 
781 

577 
755 

661 

635 

491 
713 

765 

769 

861 

671 
904 
828 
661 


»  Compiled  from  Rcpt.  Imm.  Com.,  Tmms.  in  Mfg.  and  Min.,  Abs. 
'  Not  given.  '  Daily  wage  only  given. 

sion  in  its  various  reports.  Foremost  among  these 
stands  the  report  of  Immigrants  in  Manufacturing  and 
Mining,  which  presents  the  results  of  a  thoroughgoing 


26o  IMMIGRATION 

investigation  of  twenty  of  the  leading  industries  of  the 
country,  and  a  less  detailed  study  of  sixteen  others, 
covering  in  all  17,141  households  and  503,732  individuals. 
The  great  majority  of  these  are  foreign-born,  but  there 
is  a  sufficient  number  of  native-born,  both  of  native  and 
foreign  parentage,  to  serve  the  purposes  of  comparison. 
The  table  on  the  previous  page  gives  the  average 
annual  earnings  of  employees  and  the  average  family 
income  in  the  different  industries. 

A  noteworthy  feature  of  the  above  table  is  the  gen- 
eral excess  of  average  family  earnings  over  the  average 
earnings  of  heads  of  families,  showing  the  extent  to  which 
other  members  of  the  family  besides  the  head  contribute 
to  the  family  support. 

The  average  weekly  earnings  of  male  employees, 
18  years  of  age  or  over,  distributed  according  to  nativ- 
ity, are  as  follows.  (The  table  includes  over  200,000 
individuals.) 

AVERAGE  WEEKLY  EARNINGS  OF  MALE  EMPLOYEES, 
18  YEARS   OF   AGE   OR   OVER,   BY  NATIVITY  1 

NiTTviTv  Average  Weekly 

^^^^T^  Earnings 

Native-born  white  of  native  father $14.37 

Native-born  of  foreign  father    .     .     .' 13-89 

Foreign-born 11.92 

There  is  a  marked  difference  between  races  in  this  re- 
spect. The  lowest  figures  among  the  foreign-born  were  : 
Albanian,  $8.07;  Greek,  $8.41;  Portuguese,  $8.10; 
Syrian,  $8.12;  Turkish,  $7.65.  Some  of  the  foreign- 
born  rank  well  above  the  natives,  as,  for  instance : 
Norwegian,  $15.28  ;  Scotch,  $15.24  ;  Scotch-Irish,  $15.13  ; 
Swedish,  $15.36;  Welsh,  $22.02. 

*  Rept.  Imm.  Com.,  Imms.  in  Mfg.  and  Min.,  Abs.,  p.  gi. 


THE   STANDARD    OF  LIVING  261 

The  average  yearly  earnings  (approximate)  of  male 
employees  18  years  of  age  or  over  were  as  follows  : 

AVERAGE  YEARLY  EARNINGS  (APPROXIMATE)  OF 
MALE  EMPLOYEES,  18  YEARS  OF  AGE  OR  OVER, 
BY  NATIVITY! 

xT.^^,™.,  Average  Yearly 

Nativity  Earnings 

Native-born  white  of  native  father $666 

Native-born  of  foreign  father 566 

Foreign-born 455 

In  this  table,  the  decrease  of  earnings  of  approximately 
$100  from  class  to  class  is  striking. 

The  average  family  income  was  as  follows : 

AVERAGE   ANNUAL   FAMILY   INCOME,   BY  NATIVITY 
OF   HEAD   OF   FAMILY  2 

NATIVITY  ^^Tnc'oL^"^ 

Native-born  white  of  native  father $865 

Native-born  of  foreign  father 866 

Foreign-born 704 

Comparing  the  last  two  tables,  and  noting  that  while 
the  average  yearly  earnings  of  native-born  male  employees 
of  foreign  parentage  are  $100  less  than  those  of  the  native- 
born  of  native  parentage,  yet  the  family  income  of  the 
native-born  of  foreign  parentage  is  $1  more  than  that 
of  the  native-born  of  native  parentage,  the  obvious  con- 
clusion might  be  that  the  native-born  of  foreign  parent- 
age are  more  inclined  to  rely  upon  some  one  besides  the 
head  of  the  family  for  part  of  the  income  than  are  the 
native-born  of  native  parentage.  Closer  examination, 
however,  proves  that  this  is  not  the  case.  The  following 
table  gives  the  percentages  of  families  of  different  nativi- 
ties which  receive  the  entire  income  from  the  husband. 

^  Ibid.,  p.  131.  *  Ibid.,  p.  136. 


262  IMMIGRATION 

PER   CENT  OF   FAMILIES  HAVING  ENTIRE    INCOME 
FROM   THE   HUSBAND,   BY  NATIVITY  i 

Nativity  Per  Cent 

Native-born  white  of  native  father 58.4 

Native-born  of  foreign  father 61.3 

Foreign-born 38.0 

Thus  there  is  a  smaller  proportion  of  families  among 
the  native-born  of  foreign  fathers  who  rely  upon  other 
members  of  the  family  than  the  husband  for  part  of  the 
family  income  than  of  the  native-born  of  native  father. 
It  appears  that  the  explanation  of  the  peculiarity  which 
has  been  noticed  must  be  either  that  only  the  more 
prosperous  of  the  native-born  of  foreign  parentage  are 
heads  of  families,  or  that  those  families  of  this  class  which 
do  receive  income  from  other  sources  than  the  husband 
receive  a  much  greater  total  amount  than  among  the 
native-born  of  native  father,  so  as  to  raise  the  average. 
The  former  explanation  seems  the  more  probable,  for 
while  67.3  per  cent  of  the  male  native-born  white  em- 
ployees of  native  fathers,  20  years  of  age  or  over,  were 
married,  only  56.5  per  cent  of  the  native-born  of  foreign 
fathers  of  the  same  age  were  married.  Native-born  em- 
ployees of  foreign  parentage  who  are  old  enough  to  be 
the  heads  of  famihes  are  predominantly  representatives 
of  the  old  immigration,  and  hence  stand  high  on  the  wage 
scale.  The  very  small  percentage  of  families  among  the 
foreign-born  which  derive  their  entire  income  from  the 
husband  indicates  the  extent  to  which  the  children  of 
this  class  contribute  to  the  family  support,  and  also  the 
extent  to  which  boarders  are  taken. 

Figures  from  other  sources  corroborate,  in  general, 
the  showing  made  in  the  foregoing  tables,  with  some 

•  Rept.  Imra.  Com.,  Imms.  in  Mfg.  and  Min.,  Abs.,  p.  139. 


THE   STANDARD   OF   LI\^NG  263 

differences  in  detail.  The  Immigration  Commission  in 
one  of  its  other  reports,  namely  that  on  Immigrants  in 
Cities,  gives  the  average  approximate  yearly  earnings  of 
over  10,000  male  wage  workers  18  years  of  age  or  over 
as  follows :  native-born  white  of  native  father,  $595  ; 
native-born  of  foreign  father,  $526;  foreign-born,  $385.^ 
These  figures  are  less,  throughout,  than  those  presented 
in  the  foregoing  tables,  and  seem  to  indicate  that  the 
average  of  wages  in  cities  is  less  than  in  the  general  run 
of  organized  industries  throughout  the  country.  It  is 
probable  that  a  census  of  city  workers  would  include  many 
in  insignificant  industries,  and  in  occupations  which  could 
hardly  be  classed  as  industries,  where  the  wage  scale  is  low. 
The  earnings  of  agricultural  laborers  on  the  farms  of 
western  New  York  range  from  $1.25  to  $1.75  per  day  of 
ten  hours.  South  Italian  families  of  four  or  five  mem- 
bers, engaged  in  this  kind  of  work,  average  from  $350  to 
$450  for  the  season,  extending  from  April  to  November. 
Poles,  working  as  general  farm  laborers  the  year  round, 
earn  from  $18  to  $20  per  month.^  Among  the  anthracite 
coal  miners  of  Pennsylvania,  the  average  yearly  wage  of 
the  contract  miners,  who  make  up  about  twenty-five 
per  cent  of  persons  employed  about  the  mines,  is  esti- 
mated at  about  $600  per  year,  while  "  adults  in  other 
classes  of  mine  workers,  who  form  over  sixty  per  cent  of 
the  labor  force,  do  not  receive  an  annual  average  wage 
of  $450."  ^  In  the  extensive  array  of  wage  figures  given 
by  Mr.  Streightoff,  distinction  is  not  made  between 
natives  and  immigrants,  but  the  general  showing  harmon- 
izes so  well  with  what  has  already  been  given  as  to  obviate 
the  necessity  of  going  into  this  question  in  further  detail.'' 

'  Ibid.,  Imms.  in  Cities,  Abs.,  p.  44. 

-  Ibid.,  Recent  Imms.  in  Agr.,  Ahs.,  p.  57. 

'  Roberts,  op.  cil.,  p.  346.  *  Statidard  of  Living,  Ch.  IV. 


264  IMMIGRATION 

We  are  justified  in  setting  down  the  average  earnings  of 
wage-working  adult  male  immigrants  as  from  $350  to 
$650  per  year,  and .  the  average  annual  income  of  im- 
migrant families  at  from  $500  to  $900. 

The  figures  given  for  individual  immigrant  incomes 
have  been  confined  to  male  workers,  for  the  reasons  that 
they  are  representative,  and  are  of  primary  importance 
in  determining  the  status  of  the  immigrant  family  in  this 
country.  The  wages  of  female  workers  range  on  the 
average  from  30  to  40  per  cent  below  those  of  males. 
Full  comparisons  are  given  in  the  volume  of  the  Immi- 
gration Commission  Report  on  Immigrants  in  Manu- 
facturing and  Mining. 

The  next  question  which  arises  is,  to  what  degree  are 
these  incomes,  of  individuals  and  families,  adequate  to 
furnish  proper  support  to  an  average  family  of  five  per- 
sons? This  problem  involves  the  determination  of  the 
minimum  amount  on  which  a  family  can  live  in  decency 
under  existing  conditions  in  America.  Numerous  efforts 
have  been  made  to  solve  this  question.  The  estimate 
of  the  Bureau  of  Statistics  of  Massachusetts  is  $754.^ 
The  Charity  Organization  Society  of  Buffalo  regards 
$634  a  year  as  the  "lowest  tolerable  budget  which  will 
allow  the  bare  decencies  of  life  for  a  family  of  five."^ 
A  special  committee  of  the  New  York  State  Conference 
of  Charities  and  Corrections  in  1907  made  the  following 
estimates  as  to  the  income  necessary  for  a  family  of  five 
persons  in  New  York  City. 

"$6oo-$7oo  is  wholly  inadequate  to  maintain  a  proper 
standard  of  hving,  and  no  self-respecting  family  should 
be  asked  or  expected  to  live  on  such  an  income." 

'With  an  income  of  between  $7oo-$8oo  a  family  can 

'  Roberts,  op.  cil.,  p.  346.  '  The  Survey,  Feb.  4,  191 1,  p.  767. 


ii^ 


THE   STANDARD   OF   LIVING  265 

barely  support  itself,  provided  it  is  subject  to  no  extraor- 
dinary expenditures  by  reason  of  sickness,  death,  or  other 
untoward  circumstances.  Such  a  family  can  live  with- 
out charitable  assistance  through  exceptional  manage- 
ment and  in  the  absence  of  emergencies." 

"  $825  is  sufficient  for  the  average  family  of  five  indi- 
viduals, comprising  the  father,  mother,  and  three  children 
under  14  years  of  age  to  maintain  a  fairly  proper  standard 
of  living  in  the  Borough  of  Manhattan." 

Mr.  Streightoff  summarizes  the  evidence  in  the  follow- 
ing words :  "It  is,  then,  conservative  to  set  $650  as  the 
extreme  low  limit  of  the  Living  Wage  in  cities  of  the 
North,  East,  and  West.  Probably  $600  is  high  enough 
for  the  cities  of  the  South.  At  this  wage  there  can  be  no 
saving,  and  a  minimum  of  pleasure."  ^ 

The  close  correspondence  of  these  various  estimates 
gives  them  a  high  degree  of  credibility.  If  we  fix  these 
standards  in  mind,  and  then  look  back  over  the  wage 
scales  given  on  the  foregoing  pages,  we  are  struck  with 
the  utter  inadequacy  of  the  annual  incomes  of  the  for- 
eign-born to  meet  even  these  minimum  requirements 
of  decency.  It  is  obvious  that  an  enormous  number  of 
immigrant  families,  if  dependent  solely  on  the  earnings 
of  the  head  of  the  family,  would  fall  far  below  any  of 
these  standards,  and  that  many  of  them,  even  when  add- 
ing to  their  resources  by  the  labors  of  wife  and  children, 
and  the  contributions  of  boarders,  cannot  possibly  bring 
the  total  income  up  to  the  minimum  limit.  Even  the 
average  income  in  many  occupations  is  far  below  this 
minimum,  and  it  must  be  considered  that  while  an  aver- 
age indicates  that  there  are  some  above,  there  must  also 
be  many  below,  the  line.     What  must  be  the  condition 

'  Streightoff,  op.  cit.,  p.  162. 


266 


IMMIGRATION 


of  those  below  !  The  average  family  income  of  the  for- 
eign-born studied  in  the  Immigration  Commission's 
investigation  of  the  manufacturing  and  mining  industries 
was  $704.  Mr.  Frederic  Almy  states  that  96  per  cent 
of  the  Poles  under  investigation  in  Buffalo  earn  less  by 
$1 10  than  the  $634  per  year  which  was  set  as  the  "  lowest 
tolerable  budget."  ^ 

A  vast  amount  of  information  covering  a  number  of 
miscellaneous  aspects  of  human  Ufe,  which  fall  under  the 
general  head  of  the  standard  of  living,  is  furnished  by 
the  Immigration  Commission,  in  its  report  on  the  manu- 
facturing and  mining  industries.  Some  of  the  most 
important  of  these  facts  are  summarized  in  the  following 
tables. 

First,  as  to  the  situation  of  young  children  in  the  homes 
of  immigrants. 

PER    CENT  OF    CHILDREN  6  AND   UNDER   16  YEARS 

OF   AGE 2 


Male 

Female 

At  Home 

At  School 

At  Work 

At  Home 

At  School 

At  Work 

Native-born 

white  of 

native  father 

54 

90.9 

3.6 

6.9 

90.5 

2.6 

Native-born  of 

foreign  father 

10.2 

83.9 

5-9 

12.6 

83.5 

3-9 

Foreign-born 

13.2 

77.0 

9-9 

I9.I 

73-6 

7-3 

Among  the  following  races  the  following  per  cent  of 
foreign-born  male  children  of  the  specified  age  were  at 
work:    German,  13.9;   south  Italian,  13.3;   Lithuanian, 

'  The  Survey,  Feb.  4,  igii,  p.  767. 

*Rept.  Imm.  Com.,  Imms.  in  Mfg.  and  Min.,  Xhs.,  pp.  194-195. 


THE   STANDARD   OF   LIVING 


267 


14.3;  Portuguese,  15.7;  Ruthenian,  14.6;  Scotch,  19.0; 
Syrian,  22.6. 

The  following  table,  showing  the  per  cent  of  Uteracy 
of  the  employees  studied  in  these  industries,  is  based  on 
information  for  500,329  employees,  and  hence  has  a 
remarkable  trustworthiness : 

LITERACY  OF  EMPLOYEES  IN  MINING  AND  MANU- 
FACTURING 1 


MALES 

FEMALES 

NATPVITY 

Per  Cent  who 

Per  Cent  who 

Read 

Read  and 
Write 

Read 

Read  and 
Write 

Native-born  white  of  na- 
tive father      .... 

Native-born  of  foreign 
father    

Foreign-born      .... 

98.2 

99.0 
85.6 

97-9 

98.7 
83.6 

98.8 

99.0 
90.8 

98.4 

98.8 
89.2 

Foreign-born  male  employees  of  the  following  races 
have  the  following  hteracy,  as  shown  by  the  per  cent 
who  can  read  and  write:  south  ItaHan,  67.6;  Mace- 
donian, 67.1;  Portuguese,  46.1;  Ruthenian,  63.6; 
Servian,  69.5;  Turkish,  54.1. 

From  the  foregoing  table  it  appears  that  in  respect  to 
literacy  the  native-born  employees  of  foreign  fathers  are 
superior  to  the  native-born  whites  of  native  fathers,  and 
that  the  foreign-born  females  are  superior  to  the  foreign- 
born  males. 

The  important  matter  of  ability  to  speak  EngHsh  is 
forcibly  portrayed  in  the  following  table: 

'  Ibid.,  pp.  162-165. 


268 


IMMIGRATION 


PER  CENT  OF  FOREIGN-BORN  EMPLOYEES  (EX- 
CLUSIVE OF  THE  ENGLISH-SPEAKING  RACES) 
WHO   SPEAK  ENGLISH  1 


NATIVriY 

Male 

Female 

Total 

Total 

55-6 

38.6 

53-2 

Bulgarian 

20 

3 

80.0  (only  5) 

20.6 

Danish     .... 

96 

5 

98.3 

96.6 

German   .... 

87 

5 

80.2 

86.8 

Greek       .... 

33 

5 

12.3 

31-5 

Hebrew,  Russian     . 

74 

7 

75-7 

75-0 

Herzcgovinian   . 

14 

6 

14.6 

Italian,  south     . 

48 

7 

25.8 

44.4 

Magyar   .... 

46 

4 

24.0 

45-2 

Norwegian    . 

96 

9 

91.8 

96.5 

Polish      .... 

43 

5 

15-5 

39-1 

Portuguese    . 

45 

2 

27.0 

37.8 

Slovak      .... 

55 

6 

26.6 

55-1 

Slovenian 

51 

7 

30-3 

50.9 

Swedish   .... 

94 

7 

94.2 

94-7 

It  is  thus  apparent  how  large  a  proportion  of  our 
foreign-born  laborers  have  not  even  taken  the  first  essen- 
tial step  toward  assimilation.  This  evil  is,  of  course, 
practically  overcome  in  the  second  generation.  Almost 
all  of  the  native-born  persons  of  foreign  fathers,  six  years 
of  age  or  over,  speak  English,  though  some  races  show 
from  6  to  8  per  cent  who  do  not. 

The  percentage  who  can  speak  English  naturally  in- 
creases with  the  length  of  residence  in  the  United  States, 
until  a  percentage  of  83.1  is  reached  for  all  foreign-born 
employees  who  have  been  in  the  United  States  ten  years 
or  more.  But  even  in  this  group  a  very  low  percentage 
is  found  among  the  Cuban  and  Spanish  cigar  makers,  of 


'  Rept.  1mm.  Com.,  Imms.  in  Mfg.  and  Min.,  Abs.,  p.  198. 


THE   STANDARD   OF   LIVING  269 

whom  almost  three  fifths  are  unable  to  speak  the  Eng- 
lish language. 

The  age  of  the  immigrant  at  the  time  of  arriving  in  the 
United  States  has  a  great  deal  to  do  with  the  abihty  to 
speak  Enghsh.  The  percentage  of  those  who  were  under 
fourteen  when  they  arrived  who  can  speak  Enghsh  is 
nearly  twice  as  large  as  that  of  those  who  were  fourteen 
or  over.  The  reasons  for  this  are  the  greater  adaptabihty 
of  the  younger  immigrants,  and  their  greater  oppor- 
tunities of  going  to  school.  The  relatively  poor  showing 
of  the  females  is  probably  due  to  their  greater  segregation, 
which  prevents  them  from  coming  in  touch  with  Ameri- 
cans or  older  immigrants  of  other  races. 

One  of  the  special  reports  of  the  Immigration  Com- 
mission deals  with  the  children  of  immigrants  in  schools 
and  brings  out  some  very  significant  facts.  Practically 
all  of  the  information  was  secured  in  December,  1908. 
Naturally  this  investigation  involved  a  study  of  the  chil- 
dren of  native-born  fathers  also.  A  general  investigation 
was  made  in  the  public  schools  of  thirty  cities,  including 
the  first  twenty  cities  in  point  of  population,  as  shown 
by  the  census  of  1900,  with  the  exception  of  Washington, 
D.C.,  Louisville,  Ky.,  and  Jersey  City,  N.J.  An  in- 
vestigation was  also  carried  on  in  regard  to  parochial 
schools  in  twenty-four  cities,  and  an  investigation  of  the 
students  in  seventy-seven  institutions  of  higher  learning. 
In  addition  to  this  general  investigation,  an  intensive 
investigation  was  made  in  twelve  cities,  including  seven 
cities  not  in  the  previous  Hst,  making  a  total  of  thirty- 
seven  cities  in  which  public  schools  were  studied.  The 
total  number  of  public  school  pupils  for  whom  informa- 
tion was  secured  was  1,815,217.  Thus  the  investigation 
was  a  very  inclusive  one,  and  the  results  may  be  taken 


270 


IMMIGRATION 


as  representative  of  educational  conditions  in  the  cities 
of  the  entire  country. 

Of  the  total  number  of  public  school  children  studied 
in  the  thirty-seven  cities,  766,727  were  of  native-born 
fathers,  and  1,048,490  of  foreign-born  fathers.  The 
children  of  native-born  white  fathers  constituted  39.5 
per  cent  of  the  total,  while  among  the  children  of  foreign- 
born  fathers  there  were  the  following  percentages  of  the 
total  number:  Hebrews,  17.6;  Germans,  11. 6;  Italians 
(north  and  south),  6.4 ;  total,  native-born  father,  42.2 
per  cent;   total,  foreign-born  father,  57.8  per  cent. 

The  different  cities  show  a  marked  difference  in  the 
proportion  of  children  who  come  from  foreign-born 
fathers,  as  the  following  table  will  show  : 

PER  CENT  OF  PUPILS  IN  PUBLIC  SCHOOLS  OF  FOR- 
EIGN-BORN FATHERS   IN   SPECIFIED   CITIES 


City 

Per  Cent 

CiTV 

Per  Cent 

Chelsea     .     .     .     . 

•      74-1 

Fall  River    .     . 

.       .      67.2 

Duluth      .     .     .     . 

•     74-1 

Shenandoah 

.       .      67.1 

New  York     .     .     . 

•     71-5 

New  Britain     .     . 

.       .      65.3 

New  Bedford     .     . 

.     68.8 

Boston    .     .     . 

•       •      63.5 

Chicago    .     .     .     . 

•     67.3 

New  Orleans 

.     18.1 

St.  Louis     .     . 

.       .      31.9 

Kansas  City  .     . 

.     21.3 

Los  Angeles 

•       .      320 

Johnstown     .     . 

.     24.8 

Cedar  Rapids  . 

.     .      .     34-2 

Cincinnati      .     . 

.     27.1 

Haverhill     .     . 

.     .     .     39-1 

Baltimore      .     . 

.     28.5 

"In  only  7  of  the  37  cities  is  the  proportion  of  pupils 
who  are  children  of  native-born  white  fathers  as  high 
as  60  per  cent."  Four  cities  have  less  than  30  per  cent. 
The  children  of  German  foreign-born  fathers  are  most 
numerous  in  Milwaukee,  Detroit,  Buffalo,  Cleveland, 
Meriden,  Chicago,  Cincinnati,  and  St.  Louis;   those  of 


THE   STANDARD   OF   LIVING 


271 


foreign-bom  Russian  Hebrew  fathers  in  Chelsea,  New 
York,  Boston,  Philadelphia,  Newark,  and  Baltimore, 
those  of  foreign-born  south  Italian  fathers  in  Providence, 
Newark,  New  York,  Yonkers,  Buffalo,  and  Boston. 

A  smaller  proportion  of  the  total  number  of  children  of 
foreign-born  fathers  are  in  the  higher  grades  of  the  public 
schools  than  of  the  children  of  native-born  white  fathers, 
as  the  following  table  shows  : 

PER   CENT  OF   PUPILS   OF   SPECIFIED   NATIVITY   IN 
THE  SPECIFIED   GRADES 


Grade 


Elindergarten   . 
Primary  grades 
Grammar  grades 
High  school 
Total    .     . 


Foreign-born 
Father 


4.4 

57-6 

33-3 

4-7 


lOO.O 


The  Slovaks,  south  Itahans,  and  Magyars  have  the 
largest  percentages  in  the  kindergartens,  and  the  Por- 
tuguese, Lithuanians,  Slovaks,  south  Itahans,  and 
Pohsh  the  largest  percentages  in  the  primary  grades. 
In  the  high  schools,  the  Canadians,  other  than  French, 
the  Scotch,  the  native-born  white,  the  Welsh,  Germans, 
Hebrews,  and  Enghsh  stand  highest.  This  is  due  to 
two  main  facts,  —  the  longer  residence  of  these  latter 
races  in  the  United  States,  and  their  greater  desire  for 
a  high  education  for  their  children,  coupled  with  a  greater 
ability  to  give  it  to  them.  Especially  in  the  case  of  the 
kindergartens  are  the  newer  immigrating  races  very 
eager  to  have  their  young  children  looked  after  so  that 


272  IMMIGRATION 

the  mother  can  be  free  to  work,  or  otherwise  occupy 
herself. 

i\nother  interesting  set  of  figures  is  that  referring  to 
the  amount  of  retardation  among  the  pupils  of  different 
nativities.  By  "retardation"  is  meant  that  a  pupil  is 
above  the  "normal"  age  for  the  grade  in  which  he  is. 
In  this  respect  the  children  of  foreign-born  fathers  of 
the  newer  immigration  are  decidedly  inferior  to  those  of 
the  older  immigration.  The  latter,  in  fact,  are  on  the 
whole  superior  to  the  children  of  native-born  white 
fathers.  Of  the  total  number  of  children  of  foreign- 
born  fathers  for  whom  this  information  was  secured, 
77.2  per  cent  were  born  in  the  United  States,  and  28.8 
per  cent  were  born  abroad.  There  is  a  considerably 
larger  proportion  of  retardation  for  those  children  eight 
years  of  age  or  over  who  were  born  abroad  than  among 
those  born  in  the  United  States.  The  proportion  re- 
tarded increases  as  the  age  at  the  time  of  arrival  in  the 
United  States  advances.  The  proportion  of  retardation 
is  greater  among  those  children  whose  fathers  cannot 
speak  English  than  among  those  who  can,  and  greater 
among  those  whose  fathers  have  not  taken  out  naturali- 
zation papers  than  among  those  who  have. 

When  we  turn  to  the  institutions  of  higher  learning, 
we  find  a  comparatively  small  number  of  foreign-born 
students,  as  might  be  expected.^  The  percentages  for 
a  total  of  32,887  students  are  as  follows : 

Nativity  of  Student  Per  Cent  of  Total 

Native-born  white  of  native  father 64.0 

Native-born  of  foreign  father 25.3 

Foreign-born 10.2 

The  Hebrews  stand  foremost  among  the  foreign-born. 

'  In  this  investigation  pupils  are  listed  by  their  own  nativity,  rather  than  by 
that  of  thu  father. 


THE   STANDARD   OF  LIVING  273 

Of  the  221,159  pupils  included  in  the  parochial  school 
investigation,  36.5  per  cent  are  children  of  native-born 
fathers  (36.3  per  cent  of  native-born  white  fathers), 
and  63.5  per  cent  of  foreign-born  fathers.  Children  of 
foreign-born  Irish  fathers  number  26.9  per  cent  of  the 
total  number  of  pupils,  foreign-born  German  fathers, 
9.7  per  cent,  Polish,  7.1  per  cent,  and  Italian,  7  per  cent. 
In  the  twenty-four  cities  in  which  information  was  se- 
cured for  both  public  and  parochial  schools,  there  were 
1,322,053  pupils  in  the  public  schools,  and  221,159  pupils 
in  the  parochial  schools.  In  Philadelphia  nearly  one 
fourth  of  the  pupils  were  in  parochial  schools. 

Information  was  also  secured  for  teachers  in  the 
kindergartens  and  elementary  grades  of  the  public 
schools  in  thirty  cities,  including  49,067  individuals. 
Of  these,  49.8  per  cent  were  native-born  of  native  white 
fathers,  and  42.8  per  cent  native-born  of  foreign  fathers, 
and  5.8  per  cent  foreign-born.  Of  the  foreign-born, 
only  six  races  were  represented  by  as  many  as  one  hun- 
dred teachers  each,  viz.  Hebrew,  English,  Irish,  Ger- 
man, Canadian  (other  than  French),  and  Scotch. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE  EXPLOITATION  OF  IMMIGRANTS.      RELIGION.      BIRTHS, 
MARRIAGES,   AND   DEATHS.      RECREATION 

There  is  a  group  of  peculiar  economic  institutions 
which  have  been  developed  by  the  immigrants  in  this 
country,  and  which  are  especially  characteristic  of  the 
new  immigration.  This  group  includes  the  padrone 
system,  the  contract  labor  system,  the  immigrant  bank, 
and  two  or  three  similar  institutions,  particularly  the 
sweating  system,  which  is  now  practically  dependent 
on  immigrants. 

The  word  "padrone"  is  adopted  from  the  Italian,  and 
signifies  master  or  "boss."  In  its  application  to  Ameri- 
can conditions,  it  refers  to  a  system  of  practical  slavery, 
introduced  into  this  country  by  the  Italians,  and  sub- 
sequently utilized  by  a  number  of  other  southeastern 
European  races.  When  immigration  from  Italy  began 
to  assume  considerable  proportions,  there  were  already 
in  the  United  States  a  few  Italians  who  had  been  here 
some  time,  and  had  acquired  a  certain  familiarity  with  the 
language  and  customs  of  the  land.  They  were  thereby 
especially  fitted  to  be  of  assistance  to  their  newly  arrived 
fellow-countrymen,  and  also,  unfortunately,  to  exploit 
them.  In  fact,  they  did  both  of  these  things.  By  way 
of  assistance,  they  put  the  green  immigrants  in  touch 
with  employers  of  labor,  helped  them  to  find  lodgings, 
and,  in  brief,  acted  as  the  go-between  in  every  case  of 

contact  between  the  immigrant  and  the  life  of  the  people 

274 


CONDITIONS,  ECONOMIC   ANT)   SOCIAL     275 

around  him.  On  the  other  hand,  the  padrone  charged 
the  newcomer  well  for  every  service  rendered,  and  in  too 
many  cases  subjected  him  to  various  forms  of  extortion, 
which  his  ignorance  kept  him  from  either  recognizing 
or  preventing.  As  certain  of  the  newer  immigrants 
became  familiar  with  the  speech  and  customs  of  their 
new  home,  they  in  turn  became  padrones,  and  extended 
their  operations  over  the  ever-increasing  numbers  of 
new  arrivals.     Thus  the  system  spread. 

There  are  certain  businesses  or  occupations  which  are 
particularly  adapted  to  the  application  of  this  system, 
such  as  railroad  labor,  peddling,  boot-blacking,  etc. 
The  Italians  developed  it  primarily  in  respect  to  the 
first  of  these.  This  race  has  now  practically  abandoned 
this  system  in  this  country,  but  it  has  been  taken  up 
by  others,  and  is  at  present  practiced  by  the  Bulgarians, 
Turks,  Macedonians,  Greeks,  and  Mexicans,  and  in 
some  cases  among  Austrians  and  Itahans.^ 

A  more  concrete  idea  of  the  workings  of  this  system 
may  be  gained  by  an  examination  of  its  operation  in  a 
single  industry,  as,  for  instance,  the  shoe-shining  in- 
dustry among  the  Greeks.  This  business,  in  a  marked 
degree,  combines  the  necessary  elements  for  the  success- 
ful application  of  the  system,  —  small  capital,  cheap  un- 
skilled labor,  close  supervision,  etc.,  —  and  this  race  is 
well  adapted  to  apply  it  to  its  extreme  extent,  partly 
from  natural  aptitude,  and  partly  from  custom  and 
training.  For  the  system,  in  its  main  outlines,  has  long 
been  familiar  in  Greece,  though  some  of  the  most  un- 
fortunate aspects  do  not  develop  there. 

The  padrone  is  a  Greek  who  has  been  in  this  country 

'  Rept.  Imm.  Com.,  Greek  Padrone  System,  pp.  7,  8.  For  an  account  of  the 
operation  of  the  system  in  England,  see  Wilkins,  W.  II.,  The  Alien  Invasion. 


276  IMMIGRATION 

for  some  time,  and  knows  the  ways  of  the  land.  He 
decides  to  engage  in  the  boot-blacking  trade,  and  to 
secure  his  necessary  helpers  contracts  for  a  number  of 
boys  from  his  native  land  to  come  over  and  work  for 
him  for  a  certain  length  of  time,  for  a  specified  sum. 
The  arrangement  is  sometimes  made  with  the  boys, 
sometimes  with  the  parents,  but  almost  always  with 
the  parents'  consent.  When  these  boys  arrive,  they 
are  taken  to  a  room  or  set  of  rooms,  which  the  padrone 
has  engaged  and  which  thenceforth  are  their  "home." 
They  are  at  once  put  to  work  in  the  shop  of  the  boss, 
and  kept  at  work  continuously  thereafter,  with  practi- 
cally no  time  off  which  they  can  call  their  own,  except 
the  meager  allowance  made  for  sleep.  The  hours  are 
long  —  twelve,  fourteen,  or  even  more  hours  per  day. 
The  boss  furnishes  board  and  lodging,  and  pays  a  small 
sum  in  cash,  perhaps  $200  per  year.  The  rooms  are 
frightfully  overcrowded,  miserably  ventilated,  and  wholly 
unhygienic.  The  boys  do  their  own  cooking,  usually  in 
relays  of  two,  and  the  noon  meal  is  eaten  hurriedly  in  a 
room  in  the  rear  of  the  shop.  The  boys  are  prevented 
from  attending  night  school,  and  are  forbidden  to  talk 
to  patrons.  In  every  way  the  padrone  tries  to  dis- 
courage their  acquiring  knowledge  of  American  ways, 
for  the  system  rests  on  ignorance.  In  a  majority  of 
cases  the  padrone  takes  all  the  tips  given  to  the  boys, 
and  the  boys  excuse  him  on  the  grounds  that  wages  are 
high  and  expenses  great. 

It  is  obvious  that  the  boys  are  wholly  at  the  mercy 
of  their  boss,  a  mercy  the  quality  of  which  is  sadly 
strained.  And  when  a  boy  does  manage  to  get  a  grasp 
of  the  English  language,  and  acquire  a  little  independence, 
instead  of  turning  traitor  to  the  system,  he  sets  up  as  a 


CONDITIONS,   ECONOMIC   AND   SOCIAL     277 

padrone  himself.  All  investigators,  and  a  number  of 
the  better  class  of  Greeks  in  this  country,  agree  that  this 
system  is  a  disgrace  to  the  Greek  race,  or  to  any  other 
race  that  practices  it.^ 

The  contract  labor  system  is  next  of  kin  to  the  padrone 
system.  The  main  dififerences  are  that  the  control  of 
the  boss,  outside  of  working  hours,  is  not  so  complete, 
and  the  relationship  is  likely  to  be  of  shorter  duration. 
This  system  arises  from  the  necessity  of  the  capitalistic 
employer  of  labor  getting  in  touch  with  the  alien  work- 
man. Differences  of  language,  ignorance  of  the  sources 
and  the  means  of  communication,  and  a  variety  of  other 
perfectly  comprehensible  reasons,  prevent  the  employer 
from  enlisting  his  workers  directly,  and  the  laborer  from 
applying  for  work  in  his  own  person.  The  natural  and 
inevitable  intermediary  is  the  immigrant  who  has  been 
in  this  country  long  enough  to  know  the  language  and 
have  some  influence  and  acquaintance  among  employers. 
Given  this  starting  point,  the  process  of  bringing  the 
immigrants  and  the  employer  together  goes  along  wholly 
natural  channels,  with  only  minor  modifications  in  the 
details.  In  some  cases  the  employer  pays  the  agent 
certain  specified  wages  for  each  laborer  furnished,  and 
the  agent  pays  whatever  is  necessary  — •  below  that 
figure  —  to  secure  the  workers  ;  sometimes  the  employer 
pays  fixed  wages  to  the  laborers,  and  allows  the  agent 
a  stated  commission  for  each  worker  secured.  This  is 
much  the  more  desirable  system  of  the  two.  In  many 
cases  the  agent  is  retained  as  overseer  in  charge  of  the 
men  he  has  secured.     The  degree  of  definiteness  in  these 

'  For  a  fuller  description  of  the  system,  and  a  more  detailed  account  of  its  cry- 
ing evils,  see  Fairchild,  H.  P.,  Greek  Immii^ration,  and  Rcpt.  Imm.  Com.,  The 
Greek  Padrone  System  in  the  United  States. 


278  IMMIGRATION 

arrangements  varies  all  the  way  from  cases  where  agents 
go  over  to  foreign  countries,  definitely  charged  with  se- 
curing laborers  for  some  employer,  to  those  where  the 
employer  simply  lets  it  be  known  among  his  employees 
that  there  will  be  work  for  all  their  friends  or  relatives 
who  wish  to  come,  and  leaves  the  leaven  to  work.  It 
is  becoming  more  rare  for  agents  in  this  country  to  go 
abroad  in  person ;  the  tendency  is  for  them  to  work  in 
connection  with  agents  established  on  the  other  side. 

The  possibilities  of  abuse  in  this  system  are  manifestly 
great.  The  agent  customarily  advances  the  passage 
money  of  those  brought  from  abroad,  taking  a  mortgage 
far  in  excess  of  his  actual  expense  on  whatever  property 
the  immigrant  has  to  offer.  Rates  of  interest  are  ex- 
orbitant, and  the  terms  of  the  contract  all  in  favor  of  the 
importer.^  Sometimes  the  immigrant  agrees  to  work  for 
him  seven  or  eight  months,  in  return  for  an  initial  outlay 
of  not  over  $100  or  $125.  In  extreme  cases,  when  an 
importer  has  taken  mortgages  far  in  excess  of  his  actual 
expenditure,  he  will  discharge  an  entire  set  of  men,  in 
order  to  make  room  for  a  new  lot  brought  over  on  similar 
terms.  The  debts  of  the  original  group  are  still  bind- 
ing, and  it  is  astonishing  to  note  the  faithfulness  with 
which  these  poor  unfortunates,  thus  thrown  on  their 
own  resources,  will  labor  on  to  pay  off  these  obligations. 

Not  all  of  the  laborers  employed  under  this  system 
are  secured  directly  from  abroad.  Many  of  the  more 
recent  immigrants,  who  have  been  in  this  country  for 
some  time,  are  almost  equally  dependent  on  the  con- 
tractor with  the  absolute  "greeners."  Chicago  is  a 
great  clearing  house  for  the  labor  market  of  the  western 

>  For  an  illustration  of  such  a  contract,  see  Rept.  Imm.  Com.,  Greek  Padrone 
System,  Abs.,  pp.  23-24. 


CONDITIONS,   ECONOMIC   AND    SOCIAL    279 

railroads,  and  labor  agencies,  often  connected  with  a 
restaurant,  or  some  similar  place  of  business,  abound  in 
the  foreign  sections.^ 

A  great  deal  of  business  of  this  general  nature  is 
carried  on  by  aliens  who  are  not  real  agents.  It  is  very- 
frequent  for  an  immigrant  to  tell  a  newcomer  that  if  he 
will  pay  him  a  certain  sum  of  money  he  will  secure  him  a 
position  in  the  estabHshment  where  he  is  himself  em- 
ployed. All  that  he  really  does  is  to  take  the  new- 
comer around  and  introduce  him  to  the  foreman,  who 
gives  him  work,  if  there  is  any.  But  the  new  arrival 
considers  himself  much  in  the  debt  of  his  "friend,"  and 
more  than  that,  thereafter  regards  the  job  as  his  own 
because  he  has  paid  for  it,  and  resents  discharge  for  any 
reason  as  an  injustice.  Conscientious  employers  natur- 
ally do  all  they  can  to  discourage  such  practices,  but  are 
powerless  to  prevent  them.  In  fact,  the  eagerness  of 
earher  immigrants  to  exploit  their  newly  arrived  fellow- 
countrymen,  not  only  in  this  way,  but  in  any  other  that 
promises  a  profit,  is  one  of  the  most  disheartening 
features  of  the  whole  immigration  situation. 

It  goes  without  saying  that  all  of  these  operations, 
which  involve  bringing  immigrants  into  the  country 
under  agreement  to  labor,  are  in  direct  violation  of  law. 
The  contract  labor  clause  of  the  immigration  law,  if 
strictly  interpreted  and  enforced,  would  exclude  practi- 
cally every  immigrant  who  had  the  slightest  assurance 
of  employment  awaiting  him.  In  fact,  however,  as 
has  been  shown  above  (page  154),  the  courts  have  so  in- 
terpreted the  act  as  to  include  under  contract  laborers 
only  those  who  have  a  definite  contract,  or  those  who 
come  in  response  to  a  specific  offer  or  promise  of  employ- 

•  Cf.  Addams,  Jane,  Twenty  Years  at  Hull-House,  p.  2ii. 


28o  IMMIGRATION 

ment.^  This  kind  of  a  promise  or  offer  is  relatively  rare. 
Nothing  so  definite  is  required  to  induce  unskilled 
laborers  to  emigrate.  Broad  and  general  assurances  of 
employment  awaiting  them  are  sufficient.  The  wide 
discrepancy  between  the  letter  and  the  interpretation  of 
the  law  is  unfortunate.  This  section  of  the  law  is  the 
one  upon  which  immigrants  are  coached  more  thoroughly 
than  on  any  other,  and  in  addition  to  the  large  number  of 
immigrants  who  violate  the  most  lenient  interpretation, 
there  must  be  many  others  whom  the  courts  would  not 
hold  guilty,  who  nevertheless  believe  themselves  so  and 
suffer  a  corresponding  degradation  of  character.  A 
third  element  in  the  situation,  which  complicates  it  still 
further,  is  the  interpretation  practically  placed  on  the 
law  by  the  immigration  authorities,  which  is  apparently 
more  strict  than  that  of  the  courts.  The  whole  matter  of 
contract  labor  needs  to  be  thoroughly  reconsidered. 

In  addition  to  the  activities  of  labor  agents  and  em- 
ployers, state  boards  do  a  good  deal  to  encourage 
immigration,  sometimes  keeping  within  the  spirit  of  the 
law,  and  sometimes  exceeding  it. 

Another  member  of  this  same  nefarious  family  is  the 
peonage  system.  For  a  general  description  of  the 
system  the  reader  is  referred  to  Professor  Commons, 
Races  and  Immigrants  in  America,  chapter  on  Labor. 
It  has  been  judicially  defined  in  the  following  words : 
"Peonage  is  a  status  or  condition  of  compulsory  service 
based  upon  the  indebtedness  of  the  peon  to  the  master. 
The  basic  fact  is  indebtedness."  ^  The  customary  or 
typical  case  is  where  a  laborer  receives  advances  of  some 
sort   from   his   employer,   and   then   leaves   his   service 

•  Rept.  Imm.  Com.,  Contract  Labor,  Abs.,  p.  12,  which  compare  throughout. 

*  Clyatt  case,  197  U.  S.  207. 


CONDITIONS,   ECONOMIC  AND   SOCL\L     281 

before  the  terms  of  his  engagement  have  been  fulfilled, 
certainly  before  he  has  repaid  his  employer  for  the  ad- 
vances. His  employer  then  procures  his  arrest,  either 
under  a  charge  of  obtaining  money  under  false  pretenses, 
or  under  the  labor  statutes  of  the  various  states.  The 
employer  makes  a  new  agreement  with  the  laborer,  that 
if  he  will  return  to  his  employment,  and  work  out  the 
balance  of  his  indebtedness,  the  criminal  procedure  will 
be  dropped. 

This  might  seem,  on  the  face  of  it,  a  thoroughly  just 
proceeding.  The  trouble  is  that  the  employer  has  every 
advantage.  The  laborer  is  ignorant,  and  very  often  the 
conditions  under  which  he  is  to  work  are  grossly  mis- 
represented to  him.  Lack  of  forethought,  moreover,  is 
one  of  the  chief  characteristics  of  ignorant  and  unintelli- 
gent men.  The  money  or  goods  advanced  to  them  occupy 
a  very  disproportionate  place  in  their  minds,  compared 
to  the  work  which  they  agree  to  perform  in  the  future. 
The  employer,  on  the  other  hand,  knows  all  about  the 
conditions,  and  just  how  much  he  can  afford  to  pay,  and 
is  able  to  give  himself  the  best  of  the  bargain  by  a  broad 
margin. 

The  Immigration  Commission  made  a  thorough  in- 
vestigation of  this  subject,  and  found  evidences  of 
peonage  in  every  state  in  the  Union,  except  Oklahoma 
and  Connecticut.  In  the  south,  where  peonage  is 
supposed  to  be  most  rampant,  it  was  discovered  that 
most  of  the  peons  were  supplied  by  labor  agents  in  New 
York  City,  who  seriously  misrepresented  the  conditions 
under  which  they  were  to  work,  and  in  many  cases  sent 
out  men  wholly  unfitted  for  the  work  which  they  were 
to  do.  In  the  south,  however,  in  spite  of  the  existence 
of  many  cases,  it  appears  that  the  vigorous  prosecutions, 


282  IMMIGRATION 

and  the  willingness  of  juries  to  convict,  have  pretty 
well  broken  up  the  tendency  toward  peonage  in  con- 
nection with  ahens. 

In  the  west  and  northwest,  cases  of  technical  peonage 
were  found  in  the  shoe-shining  industry,  and  in  some 
lumber  and  railroad  camps.  But  there  have  been 
practically  no  attempts  at  prosecution  for  peonage  in 
these  states. 

The  most  surprising  fact  estabhshed  by  the  Commis- 
sion in  this  respect  is  that  probably  the  most  complete 
system  of  peonage  in  the  whole  country  has  existed,  not 
in  the  south,  but  in  Maine.  Here  the  employers  of 
labor  in  the  lumber  camps  have  been  obliged  to  secure 
their  labor  mostly  from  other  states  and  in  the  main  from 
immigrants.  Boston  is  the  great  labor  market  for  this 
industry.  The  immigrants  are  given  very  misleading 
accounts  of  the  conditions  of  their  labor,  and  are  engaged 
to  work  for  their  employers  for  a  specified  time.  They 
are  then  taken  into  the  forests,  sometimes  having  to 
walk  sixty  or  seventy  miles  to  their  place  of  labor,  and 
kept  in  the  forest  all  winter. 

When  they  learn  the  extent  to  which  they  have  been 
deceived,  many  of  them  are  incHned  to  run  away.  How- 
ever, in  February,  1907,  a  law  was  passed  making  it  a 
criminal  offense  for  a  person  to  ''enter  into  an  agreement 
to  labor  for  any  lumbering  operation  or  in  driving  logs 
and  in  consideration  thereof  receive  any  advances  of 
goods,  money,  or  transportation,  and  unreasonably  and 
with  intent  to  defraud,  fail  to  enter  into  said  employ- 
ment as  agreed  and  labor  a  sufficient  length  of  time  to 
reimburse  his  employer  for  said  advances  and  expenses." 
The  general  interpretation  of  the  courts  has  been  to 
ignore  the  provision  about  intent  to  defraud,  or  at  least 


CONDITIONS,   ECONOMIC   AND    SOCIAL     283 

to  put  the  burden  of  proof  on  the  defendant,  though  it 
is  not  specifically  provided  in  the  law  that  failure  or 
refusal  to  fulfill  the  terms  of  the  contract  shall  be  prima 
facie  evidence  of  an  intent  to  defraud,  as  is  the  case  in 
the  contract  labor  law  of  Minnesota  and  other  states. 
Employers  in  other  branches  of  industry  have  sought  to 
secure  the  same  protection,  but  in  vain,  so  that  this  law- 
is  iniquitous,  not  only  from  the  point  of  view  of  peonage, 
but  also  because  it  is  class  legislation.  A  considerable 
amount  of  peonage  has  resulted  from  this  law  in  Maine. ^ 

The  basis  of  all  the  evils  which  have  just  been  discussed 
has  been  seen  to  He  in  the  ignorance  and  helplessness  of 
the  newly  arrived  immigrant.  Knowing  nothing  of  the 
language  of  the  country,  or  of  its  methods  of  doing  busi- 
ness, and  having  no  connections  with  the  industrial 
system  of  the  country,  he  is  forced  to  rely  on  some  one 
who  can  supply  these  factors.  Most  naturally  he  turns 
to  some  one  of  his  fellow-countrymen  who  has  been  in 
this  country  longer.  From  that  time  on,  sometimes  for 
many  years,  his  career  is  dominated  by  the  older  immi- 
grant to  a  remarkable  degree.  Out  of  this  connection  has 
grown  up  a  pecuHar  set  of  institutions,  commonly  known 
as  immigrant  banks,  which  have  the  power  for  great 
good  or  evil  to  the  immigrant,  according  to  the  character 
of  the  men  who  have  them  in  charge.  The  origin  and 
nature  of  these  banks  is  as  follows  : 

The  foremost  ambition  of  the  average  immigrant  is 
the  sa\T[ng  of  money.  The  purposes  of  this  saving  are 
many  —  to  guarantee  his  own  future  prosperity,  to  ease 
the  lot  of  friends  and  relatives  at  home,  to  pay  off  mort- 
gages and  other  debts,  and,  perhaps  the  most  important 
of  all,  to  provide  the  means  whereby  friends  and  relatives 

•  Cf.  Rept.  Inim.  Com.,  Peonage,  etc. 


284  IMMIGRATION 

on  the  other  side  may  Join  him  in  the  new  world.  The 
prepaid  ticket  is  the  final  end  of  much  of  the  saving  of 
aliens.  These  accumulations  naturally  come  in  small 
amounts.  Out  of  a  month's  earnings,  the  immigrant 
may  save  $10  or  $15  or  even  as  high  as  $30.  The  living 
conditions  of  many  of  the  immigrants  make  it  unsafe 
for  them  to  try  to  keep  this  money  in  their  lodgings ; 
they  are  unfamiliar  with,  and  distrustful  of,  American 
banks.  The  disposition  of  their  savings  which  seems 
to  them  the  wisest  and  safest  is  to  intrust  them  to  a 
fellow-countryman  who  is  familiar  with  the  ways  of  the 
country  and  has  some  means  of  keeping  them  safe. 
This  individual  may  be  the  padrone  or  boss,  the  lodging- 
house  keeper,  a  saloon  keeper  or  grocer,  or  the  steamship 
agent  from  whom  the  immigrant  expects  eventually  to 
purchase  the  prepaid  ticket.  In  time,  immigrants  in 
these  positions  get  into  the  habit  of  receiving  small  sums 
from  their  fellow-countrymen  for  safe  keeping'  or  on 
deposit  against  some  future  purchase.  As  these  amounts 
accumulate,  they  become  of  considerable  value  to  the 
holder,  who  may  deposit  them  in  a  regular  savings  bank 
at  interest,  to  his  own  profit,  or  may  invest  them  in  his 
business,  or  may  make  other  speculative  investments 
with  them.  To  attract  such  deposits,  and  increase 
their  amount,  he  adds  the  term  "bank"  to  the  name  of 
his  business,  so  that  he  now  becomes  a  "Grocer  and 
Banker,"  a  "Ticket  Agent  and  Banker,"  etc.  This 
adds  a  dignity  to  his  position  and  increases  the  confidence 
of  the  people  in  his  integrity. 

It  has  been  intimated  in  the  preceding  paragraph 
that  the  immigrant  "banker"  makes  no  distinction  be- 
tween the  funds  deposited  with  him  and  his  own  prop- 
erty.     This    is   generally   the   case.      Occasionally   the 


CONDITIONS,   ECONOMIC   AND    SOCL\L     285 

banker  will  keep  the  deposits  in  his  safe,  in  the  original 
wallets  in  which  they  were  delivered  to  him,^  or  deposit 
them  in  a  bank  in  his  wife's  name,^  but  these  are  ex- 
ceptional instances.  Ordinarily  all  the  money  in  the 
banker's  possession  is  lumped  together,  so  that  the  assets 
of  the  ''bank"  are  identical  with  the  general  resources 
of  the  proprietor.  Furthermore,  there  is  a  great  amount 
of  laxity  in  the  giving  of  receipts  to  depositors.  Some- 
times no  written  acknowledgment  whatever  is  given ; 
from  this  point  the  character  of  the  receipt  varies  all 
the  way  up  to  a  regular  pass  book,  and  a  thorough  system 
of  bookkeeping. 

From  such  a  beginning  as  this,  these  banks  have 
developed  a  variety  of  forms,  varying  in  functions  and 
in  stability.  They  have  been  classified  by  the  Immi- 
gration Commission  into  three  main  groups,  as  follows : 

"I.  State  and  incorporated  banks  or  highly  organized 
private  institutions  thoroughly  responsible  and  operated 
in  a  regular  manner  almost  exclusively  as  a  bank.  There 
are  comparatively  few  of  these  institutions. 

"II.  Privately  owned  steamship  agencies,  and  real- 
estate  offices  which  masquerade  under  the  name  of  a 
bank,  but  which  are  not  legally  authorized  as  such.  To 
this  class  should  be  added  groceries  and  saloons  in  which 
the  banking  functions  are  clearly  defined  as  apart  from 
other  business.  The  majority  of  the  banks  investigated 
are  of  this  class. 

''III.  Banks  which  may  or  may  not  be  known  as 
such,  but  in  which  "the  functions  of  caring  for  deposits 
and  receiving  money  for  transmission  abroad  are  ex- 
tended more  as  an  accommodation  or  as  incidental  to  the 
main  business  of  the  concern.     Saloon  keepers,  grocers, 

'  Rept  Imm.  Com.,  Immigrant  Banks,  p.  35.  *  Ibid.,  p.  35. 


286  IMMIGRATION 

boarding  houses,  barbers,  and  men  engaged  in  similar 
occupations  usually  conduct  this  class  of  banks.  It 
has  been  claimed  by  some  that  every  immigrant  saloon 
keeper  will  be  found  doing  a  banking  business  of  this 
character.  This  is  the  largest,  as  it  also  is  the  most 
irresponsible,  class.  It  is  undoubtedly  the  hardest 
class  to  regulate,  as  it  is  the  one  about  which  it  is  the 
most  difficult  to  obtain  accurate  information."  ^ 

The  hold  which  these  bankers  have  over  their  patrons 
is  due  in  the  first  instance  to  the  ignorance  of  the  latter, 
and  the  feeling  of  security  which  they  have  in  dealing 
with  people  of  their  own  race.  It  is  increased  by  the 
familiarity  which  the  banker  has  with  business  methods 
in  this  country,  and  names,  places,  and  methods  in  the 
old  country.  The  immigrant  banker  assumes  a  decidedly 
patemaHstic  attitude  toward  his  patrons,  and  renders 
them  many  services  not  ordinarily  associated  with  a 
banking  business,  such  as  writing  and  translating  letters, 
securing  employment,  giving  legal  advice,  etc.  The 
greater  the  hold  thus  secured,  the  wider  are  the  oppor- 
tunities for  exploitation.  In  the  absence  of  proper 
control,  and  of  the  ordinary  safeguards  of  such  busi- 
nesses, the  immigrant  depositor  is  made  to  suffer  extor- 
tion and  loss  in  countless  cases.  In  many  cases  this  is 
due  to  the  ignorance  of  the  banker,  and  his  total  unfit- 
ness for  the  assumption  of  such  responsibihties ;  in 
many  others,  it  is  due  to  dishonesty,  greed,  and  willful 
intent  to  defraud.  In  the  panic  year  of  1907  large 
numbers  of  these  banks  failed,  and  sums  of  money  were 
lost  to  immigrants,  the  importance  of  which  is  to  be 
judged,  not  so  much  by  the  total  amounts,  as  by  the 
fact  that  they  represented  the  savings  of  a  large  number 

'  Rept.  Imra.  Com.,  Immigrant  Banks,  p.  27. 


CONDITIONS,   ECONOMIC   AND    SOCIAL     287 

of  individuals  in  meager  circumstances.  In  normal 
years,  there  is  a  steady  loss,  due  to  failures,  defalcations, 
and  abscondings  on  the  part  of  bankers,  and  also  to  the 
continual  petty  frauds,  habitually  practiced  by  many  of 
these  men.  The  trustfulness  of  the  imirdgrants  towards 
men  of  this  character  is  surprising.  Instances  are  known 
where  men  have  come  into  a  community,  advertised  a 
bank,  and  in  a  few  weeks  accumulated  large  sums  of 
money  from  the  foreigners,  with  which  they  promptly 
decamped,  leaving  absolutely  no  means  of  redress  to 
their  creditors. 

The  primary  functions  of  these  banks  are  the  safe 
keeping  of  money  and  the  transmission  of  remittances 
abroad.  Only  in  exceptional  cases  do  the  other  banking 
functions  play  an  important  part.  It  is  estimated  that 
in  1907  approximately  $137,500,000  in  foreign  remit- 
tances passed  through  the  hands  of  immigrant  bankers, 
in  sums  averaging  about  $35.^ 

These  banks  are  mostly  in  the  hands  of  the  recently 
immigrating  races.  The  reasons  for  their  existence  — 
ignorance  of  language  and  customs,  iUiteracy,  inconven- 
ient hours  kept  by  American  banks,  and  their  luxurious 
appearance  and  requirements  of  cleanliness  —  appeal 
much  less  strongly  to  the  immigrants  from  northwestern 
Europe. 

Another  functionary  who  exercises  an  extensive,  and 
often  baleful,  influence  over  the  immigant  is  the  notary 
pubUc.  The  position  of  dignity  and  influence  held  by 
corresponding  officials  in  foreign  countries  leads  the  im- 
migrant to  accord  too  much  confidence  and  trust  to  such 
persons  in  the  United  States,  who  are  often  ignorant  and 
in  many  cases  dishonest  men.     The  nature  of  the  cases 

'  Ibid.,  pp.  6q,  8s,  86. 


288  IMMIGRATION 

in  which  the  immigrant  has  recourse  to  them  gives  them 
a  large  amount  of  power  over  the  foreigner,  and  opens 
the  way  to  many  petty  extortions. 

All  of  these  exploiting  agencies  become  inextricably 
mingled  in  actual  life.  The  functions  of  the  padrone, 
the  labor  contractor,  the  employment  agent,  the  steam- 
ship agent,  the  boarding  boss,  the  saloon  keeper,  the 
grocer,  the  banker,  the  notary  public  —  any  two  or 
more  of  these  may  be  combined  in  the  person  of  a  given 
individual,  who  exercises  a  corresponding  control  over  the 
destiny  of  those  who  are  dependent  on  him.  His  hold  over 
them  rests  upon  the  fact  that  they  are  not  Americanized, 
and  it  is  wholly  to  his  interest  to  keep  them  so.^ 

The  sweat  shop  is  manifestly  an  institution  of  the 
same  general  character  as  those  which  have  just  been 
discussed,  and  while  it  may  not  owe  its  origin  to  the  im- 
migrants, it  is  now  practically  dependent  on  them  for 
its  existence.  The  main  features  of  this  system  are 
famiHar.  Its  distinctive  characteristic  is  the  giving  out 
of  work  by  manufacturers  to  contractors,  in  order  that 
certain  processes  may  be  carried  on  in  the  homes  of  the 
workers.  It  finds  its  fullest  development  in  the  clothing 
trade,  which  at  the  present  time  is  almost  wholly  in  the 
hands  of  the  Jews. 

The  chief  evils  of  the  system  are  the  unsanitary  con- 
ditions of  labor,  the  long  hours,  the  extensive  employ- 
ment of  women  and  children,  the  difficulty  of  proper 
supervision,  the  low  wages,  and  the  complete  subjection 

'  For  a  full  description  of  the  nature,  organization,  and  functions  of  the  im- 
migrant bank,  and  of  efforts  which  have  been  made  to  correct  its  evils,  the  reader 
is  referred  to  the  Report  of  the  Immigration  Commission  on  Immigrant  Banks, 
to  which  reference  has  been  made,  and  also  to  the  Report  of  the  New  York  Com- 
mission of  Immigration.  This  latter  volume  also  contains  an  extended  dis- 
cussion of  the  position  of  the  notary  public.  Cf.  also  Roberts,  Peter,  The  New 
Immigration,  Ch.  XV. 


CONDITIONS,   ECONOMIC   AND   SOCIAL     289 

of  the  workers  to  the  control  of  the  boss.  The  con- 
tractor himself  is  often  in  a  precarious  financial  situation, 
being  himself  a  victim  of  the  system.  Like  the  fore- 
going institutions,  it  results  from  the  ignorance  and  lack 
of  connection  of  the  workers.  Its  persistence  and  wide 
spread  in  this  country  are  due  to  the  constant  accessions 
of  low-grade  workers,  unassimilated  to  the  conditions  of 
the  country,  which  immigration  furnishes.  These  supply 
the  raw  material  upon  which  the  system  feeds.  By  so 
doing  they  have  blocked  the  efforts  of  the  cities  of  the 
United  States  to  control  or  abolish  this  evil.^ 

There  is  another  class  of  .institutions  which  rests  upon 
the  helplessness  of  the  newly  arrived  immigrant,  which 
is,  however,  an  alleviating,  rather  than  an  exploiting 
agency,  and  which  belongs  to  the  social  rather  than  to 
the  economic  life.  This  is  the  immigrant  home  or  aid 
society.  These  institutions  are  numerous  in  the  seaport 
cities  where  immigrants  arrive ;  there  are  said  to  be  not 
less  than  sixteen  in  operation  in  New  York  City.^  They 
are  for  the  most  part  benevolent  or  philanthropic  or- 
ganizations (at  least  nominally),  and  many  of  them  are 
under  the  control  of  some  rehgious  organization.  Many 
of  them  work  primarily  with  a  single  race  or  people. 
Their  functions  are  looking  after  newly  arrived  immi- 
grants who  are  not  met  by  friends,  and  forwarding  them 
to  their  destinations,  furnishing  them  board  and  lodging 
while  in  the  port  of  arrival,  helping  them  to  find  work  or 
to  locate  missing  acquaintances,  and  in  general  safe- 
guarding them  while  they  are  establishing  a  connection 
with  some  responsible  party  in  this  country. 

'  Addams.  Jane,   Twenty  Years  at  Fltill-IIouse,   p.  99;    Adams,  T.  S.,  and 
Sumner,  Helen  L.,  Labor  Problems.  Ch.  IV. 
»  Rept.  New  York  Com.  of  Imm..  p.  88. 
U 


290  IMMIGRATION 

Most  of  the  immigrants  who  come  to  this  country- 
come  to  join  relatives  or  friends,  who  generally  meet 
them  at  the  port  of  arrival,  or  send  money  or  transporta- 
tion to  take  them  to  their  destination.  But  it  frequently 
happens  that  the  friends  or  relatives  fail  to  put  in  an 
appearance.  In  that  case  the  immigration  authorities 
are  unwilling  to  turn  the  immigrant  adrift  unprotected, 
especially  in  the  case  of  unaccompanied  women  or  girls. 
Consequently  the  government  has  allowed  representa- 
tives of  homes  and  aid  societies  to  visit  the  immigrant 
stations,  and  offer  their  aid  to  the  immigrants.  At 
Ellis  Island,  immigrants  whose  relatives  or  friends  fail 
to  call  for  them  are  detained  five  days,  and  then  given 
the  choice  of  being  sent  back  to  Europe  or  of  leaving 
the  station  in  company  with  some  representative  of  a 
home  or  aid  society,  often  called  a  "missionary."  If 
the  latter  alternative  is  chosen,  the  immigrant  is  said  to 
be  "discharged"  to  the  given  person,  who  is  thereupon 
held  theoretically  responsible  that  the  immigrant  shall 
not  become  a  public  charge.  There  are  three  general 
classes  of  immigrants  who  are  thus  discharged  :  (i)  Im- 
migrants whose  friends  or  relatives  fail  to  meet  them, 
and  whom  the  authorities  do  not  deem  it  wise  to  land 
unless  some  one  becomes  responsible  for  them.  (2)  Im- 
migrants who  are  without  sufficient  money  to  take  them 
to  their  destination,  and  who  must  be  cared  for  until  the 
necessary  funds  are  forthcoming.  (3)  Immigrants,  par- 
ticularly girls  and  women,  who  have  no  friends  or  rel- 
atives in  this  country,  and  need  a  home  until  they  can 
secure  employment.  These  homes  and  aid  societies 
necessarily  have  something  of  the  nature  of  employ- 
ment agencies,  and  do  a  good  deal  of  work  of  that  kind. 

The  amount  of  work  done  by  these  organizations  is 


CONDITIONS,   ECONOMIC   AND   SOCL\L     291 

very  great.  In  the  calendar  year  1907,  over  14,800  im- 
migrants were  discharged  to  such  representatives  at 
EUis  Island  by  the  New  York  discharging  division.  This 
does  not  include  the  total  number  discharged,  as  the 
boards  of  special  inquiry  and  the  commissioners  of  im- 
migration also  discharge  immigrants.^  Six  homes  in 
New  York  City  cared  for  a  total  of  48,275  immigrants 
in  1908.^ 

It  will  be  seen  at  once  that  these  homes  and  societies 
have  great  power  over  the  immigrants,  and  are  in  positions 
of  immense  advantage  and  responsibility,  inasmuch  as 
the  authorities  give  their  representatives  a  semiofficial 
standing,  and  intrust  immigrants  to  them  without 
reserve.  Unscrupulous  and  grasping  persons,  once  ad- 
mitted to  the  stations  as  missionaries,  have  large  op- 
portunities and  every  advantage  to  exploit  the  immi- 
grants at  will.  This  is  especially  true  of  the  homes, 
where  the  immigrants  can  be  charged  —  and  over- 
charged —  for  every  possible  kind  of  service. 

It  might  appear  at  first  sight  that  the  authorities 
would  exercise  every  caution,  not  only  in  regard  to  the 
character  of  the  representatives,  but  as  to  the  character 
and  conduct  of  the  homes.  The  investigations  of  the 
Immigration  Commission,  however,  revealed  that  this 
has  not  always  been  the  case.  Not  only  have  many  of 
the  authorities  used  very  httle  care  or  discretion  in 
granting  privileges  to  representatives  in  their  stations, 
but  they  exercised  practically  no  supervision  over  the 
homes  themselves,  and  when  the  immigrant  had  once 
been  discharged  to  the  representative,  they  paid  no  more 
attention  to  him  or  his  welfare.     The  Commission  in- 

'  Rept.  Imm.  Com.,  Imm.  Homes  and  Aid  Socs.,  Abs.,  p.  8. 
*  Rept.  New  York  Com.  of  Imm.,  p.  go. 


292  IMMIGRATION 

vestigated  carefully  102  immigrant  homes  and  aid  socie- 
ties, in  addition  to  twenty-five  employment  agencies, 
most  of  which  had  some  connection  with  an  immigrant 
home  or  aid  society.  A  large  amount  of  misconduct 
on  the  part  of  representatives  was  discovered,  as  well  as 
undesirable  conditions  in  the  homes  themselves.  Many 
of  the  homes  were  found  to  be  purely  money-making 
institutions,  where  the  immigrant  was  fleeced  to  the 
limit  of  his  resources.  The  sanitary  conditions  in  some  of 
them  were  terrible.  Some  of  the  representatives  seemed 
to  care  for  nothing  but  to  have  as  many  immigrants  "as 
possible  discharged  to  them,  and  were  httle  more  than 
runners  for  their  respective  homes.  "It  was  the  testi- 
mony of  some  of  the  leading  officials  at  Ellis  Island  that 
the  majority  of  missionaries  and  representatives  there 
care  only  to  secure  the  discharge  of  immigrants  who 
have  money  and  can  pay  for  food  and  lodging."  ^  Some 
of  the  representatives  were  instrumental  in  securing  the 
admission  of  contract  laborers.  "About  two-thirds  of 
the  homes  investigated  were  clean,  comfortable,  and 
sanitary,  and  about  one-third  were  overcrowded,  badly 
ventilated,  filthy  and  insanitary."  -  Many  of  the  homes 
where  bad  conditions  were  found  were  supported  by 
honest  conscientious  people,  who  had  been  duped  and 
betrayed  by  their  representatives  and  managers ;  others 
were  intentionally  nothing  but  money-making  schemes. 

These  conditions  are  bad  enough  in  themselves,  but 
the  most  serious  feature  of  the  situation  is  the  lack  of 
responsibility  and  care  in  placing  women  and  girls  out 
in  employment.  The  majority  of  the  homes  investigated 
showed  absolutely  no  sense  of  their  duty  and  responsi- 
bility in  this  matter.     Only  one  sixth  of  them  refused 

»  Rept.  Imm.  Com.,  Imm.  Homes  and  Aid  Socs.,  Abs.,  p.  14-      ^  Ibid.,  p.  16. 


CONDITIONS,   ECONOMIC   AND   SOCIAL     293 

to  place  girls  in  situations  where  their  morals  would  be 
seriously  endangered.  Many  of  them  were  perfectly 
willing  to  supply  girls  to  work  in  houses  of  immoral 
character.^  There  was  also  a  great  deal  of  carelessness 
in  the  investigation  of  addresses  to  which  girls  were  sent. 
Many  of  the  addresses  reported  by  the  societies  were 
found  to  be  fictitious,  many  were  false,  that  is,  the  girls 
had  never  been  there,  and  some  of  them  were  admittedly 
immoral  resorts.  It  is  encouraging  to  note  that  since 
the  investigation  of  the  Commission  vigorous  measures 
have  been  employed  in  correcting  these  evils,  and  con- 
ditions have  greatly  improved. 

The  case  of  the  immigrant  homes  and  aid  societies  is 
a  remarkable  illustration  of  the  eternal  vigilance  which 
is  necessary  to  prevent  exploitation  and  corruption  from 
flourishing,  even  in  connection  with  professedly  benev- 
olent agencies,  when  plastic  material  is  furnished  in 
such  abundance  as  exists  in  the  immigrant  body.- 

The  effects  of  immigration  upon  the  reUgious  life  of 
the  immigrants  and  of  the  United  States  constitute  a 
great  field  of  research  which  has  been  surprisingly  neg- 
lected, perhaps  because  of  the  difficulty  of  securing  re- 
Uable  data  and  estabhshing  definite  conclusions,  perhaps 
because  it  has  not  seemed  of  sufficient  importance  to 
warrant  exhaustive  study. 

One  result  which  has  certainly  followed  the  immigra- 
tion of  the  nineteenth  century  and  the  beginning  of  the 
twentieth  is  a  vast  increase  in  the  number  of  denomina- 
tions and  sects  organized  in  this  country.  The  position 
of  the  Roman  CathoHc  Church  as  a  product  of  immigra- 
tion is  too  obvious  to  be  dwelt  upon.     The  prcdomi- 

'  Cf.  Rept.  N.  Y.  Com.  of  Imm.,  p.  92. 

*  New  York  now  has  a  state  law,  which  went  into  effect  Sept.  i,  191 1,  for  the 
regulation  of  these  lodging  houses.     The  Survey,  Sept.  30,  igii. 


294  IMMIGRATION 

nance  of  this  form  of  belief  among  the  Irish  of  the  first 
half  of  the  nineteenth  century,  which  more  than  any- 
thing else  motived  the  Native  American  and  Know 
Nothing  movements,  has  been  maintained  to  a  certain 
extent  among  the  Germans,  and  in  later  days  among  the 
ItaUans  and  Slavs. ^ 

The  census  reports  on  religious  bodies  unfortunately 
give  no  information  as  to  the  nationaUty  of  members 
and  communicants,  so  that  it  is  impossible  to  distribute 
the  adherents  of  the  various  sects  among  the  constituent 
races.  However,  out  of  the  list  of  denominations  given 
we  can  pick  a  number  of  manifestly  foreign  origin  which 
indicate  the  tremendous  diversity  of  rehgious  forms 
which  are  represented  in  this  country.  Among  them 
are  the  following :  Armenian  Church ;  Buddhists, 
Chinese  and  Japanese ;  Dunkers ;  Eastern  Orthodox 
churches,  Russian,  Servian,  Syrian,  and  Greek ;  various 
German  Evangelical  bodies ;  various  Scandinavian  Lu- 
theran bodies ;  Slovak  Evangelical  Lutheran  Synod ;  Mo- 
ravian bodies ;  Jewish  congregations ;  Polish  national 
church ;  Swedish  Evangelical  bodies ;  Hungarian  Re- 
formed Church ;  Bahais,  etc. 

The  total  number  of  organizations  covered  by  the 
report  of  the  census  for  1906  is  212,230   as  reported  by 

'  That  the  spirit  of  Know  Nothingism  dies  hard,  and  is  likely  to  crop  out  even 
in  modern  times,  is  evidenced  by  the  so-called  A.  P.  A.  agitation  of  the  early 
nineties.  The  A.  P.  A. ,  or  American  Protective  Association,  was  the  most 
prominent  of  several  secret  organizations,  formed  about  this  time,  the  purposes 
and  methods  of  wliich  were  strikingly  similar  to  those  of  the  Native  American 
and  Know  Nothing  parties.  The  object  of  their  antagonism  was  the  Roman 
CathoHc  Church,  and  particularly  the  body  of  Irish  Catholics.  This  agitation 
was  carried  to  such  an  extent  that  many  people,  even  of  the  intelligent  and  thought- 
ful, feared  that  a  religious  war  was  impending.  For  details  see  Winston,  E.  M., 
"The  Threatening  Conflict  with  Romanism,"  Forum,  17:425  (June,  1804); 
Coudcrt,  Frederic  R.,  "The  American  Protective  Association,"  Forum,  it.  51^ 
(July,  i8q4);  Gladden,  W.,  "The  Anti-Catholic  Crusade,"  Century,  25:789 
(March,  1894). 


CONDITIONS,   ECONOMIC   AND    SOCIAL     295 

186  denominations.  One  hundred  and  fourteen  of  these 
denominations  reported  the  use  of  some  foreign  lan- 
guage in  some  of  their  organizations.  Of  the  denomina- 
tions so  reporting  12.5  per  cent  of  their  organizations, 
with  26.3  per  cent  of  their  membership,  report  the  use  of 
foreign  languages,  either  alone  or  with  English.  There 
are  forty-one  individual  languages  included  in  the  report. 
These  facts  indicate  that,  whatever  changes  the  re- 
moval to  a  new  environment  involves,  and  however 
much  of  American  Ufe  the  immigrants  adopt,  a  large 
percentage  of  our  foreign  population  brings  its  reHgion 
with  it,  and  keeps  it.  This  is  not  to  be  wondered  at, 
as  we  know  that  men  hold  on  to  their  traditional  reli- 
gion more  tenaciously  than  to  almost  any  other  of  their 
mores  and  resent  interference  here  most  of  all.  More 
than  this,  it  is  probably  well  that  it  is  so.  For  religion 
is  the  great  conserving  force  of  morality,  the  principal 
bulwark  of  traditional  conduct.  The  perils  of  the  moral 
nature  of  the  immigrant  in  his  new  home  are  many. 
Trained  to  repression,  restriction,  and  control,  he  finds 
himself  suddenly  endowed  with  hberty  and  opportunity. 
This  Hberty  he  is  all  too  likely  to  interpret  as  Hcense. 
Finding  people  all  around  him  doing  things  which  have 
hitherto  seemed  to  him  sinful  or  immoral,  he  adopts 
the  practices,  without  having  acquired  the  principles 
and  restraints  which  safeguard  them,  and  make  them 
innocuous  for  Americans.  If,  along  with  this  shifting 
of  ethical  standards,  he  loses  also  his  religious  sanctions, 
his  moral  danger  is  great  indeed.^     This  process  has  been 

'  Professor  Mayo-Smith  says  on  this  point,  "The  commands  of  morality  are 
aVisolutc  and  must  have  the  sanction  of  perfect  faith  in  order  to  be  effective.  To 
destroy  the  credibility  of  the  sanction,  without  puttinK  anythinp  in  its  place, 
must  for  the  time  being  be  destructive  of  ethical  action."  Emigration  and 
Immigration,  p.  7. 


296  IMMIGRATION 

particularly  observed  among  the  second  generation  of 
Hebrews.  In  the  light  of  American  civilization  and  pub- 
lic thought,  they  find  the  rehgion  of  their  fathers  dis- 
credited. It  appears  to  them  antiquated  and  unworthy. 
They  throw  it  over  unreservedly,  and  with  it  goes  the 
whole  body  of  admirable  moral  precepts  and  guides, 
and  the  remarkable  ethical  standards,  which  have  been 
indissolubly  associated  with  religious  behef  in  their  minds. 
The  unfortunate  part  of  the  process  is  that  nothing  takes 
the  place,  either  of  the  religious  faith,  or  of  the  moral 
code.  The  old,  which  was  good,  is  forsaken  without 
adopting  the  new,  which  is  perhaps  better.  As  a  result, 
juvenile  crime  is  very  prevalent  among  the  Jews,  and  a 
large  proportion  of  those  concerned  in  the  white  slave 
traffic,  both  men  and  women,  are  Hebrews.^  It  would 
be  difficult  to  say  to  what  extent  the  bad  record  of  the 
second  generation  of  immigrants  in  regard  to  criminality 
and  general  lawlessness  may  be  due  to  similar  causes. 

While  the  majority  of  our  immigrants  are  nominally 
Christians,  there  is  nevertheless  a  sufficient  demand  for 
religious  guidance  to  constitute  a  tremendous  foreign 
missionary  problem  within  the  borders  of  our  own  land 
—  the  more  so  when  it  is  remembered  that  a  large  part 
of  the  efforts  of  some  of  our  foreign  missionary  boards 
is  directed  toward  people  who  are  already  nominally 
Christians,  in  their  home  lands.  Many  of  the  religious 
denominations  are  beginning  to  feel  this  call,  and  are 
responding  to  it  by  special  services  or  organizations, 
planned  to  meet  the  needs  of  foreign  residents.  As 
stated  above,  many  religious  bodies  support  missionaries 

'  Cf.  Bingham,  T.  A.,  "Foreign  Criminals  in  New  York,"  North  American 
Review,  September,  1908,  p.  381.  Also,  Rept.  Imm.  Com.,  Importing  Women 
for  Immoral  Purposes,  pp.  12,  14. 


CONDITIONS,   ECONOMIC   AND   SOCIAL     297 

on  Ellis  Island.  The  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tion devotes  especial  attention  to  the  foreign-born. 
Many  foreign  groups  have  societies  of  a  religious  char- 
acter, aside  from  their  regular  church  organizations. 

Yet  in  spite  of  all  that  can  be  said  on  this  side  of  the 
question,  there  remains  an  astonishing  apathy  on  the 
part  of  the  body  of  American  Protestant  churches 
toward  the  religious  and  moral  needs  and  dangers  of  the 
foreign  population,  and  of  the  opportunities  for  service 
which  it  offers.  This  service  might  be  made  of  incal- 
culable benefit  not  only  to  the  immigrants  themselves, 
but  to  their  adopted  country,  whose  destiny  hangs  in 
the  same  balance  as  theirs.  It  is  true  that  a  group  of 
ignorant,  stolid,  perhaps  dirty,  European  peasants  on 
the  streets  of  one's  own  city  does  not  make  the  same 
appeal  to  his  emotions  and  sympathies  as  the  half-clad 
savages  which  he  reads  of  in  the  missionary  journals. 
Yet  the  spiritual  needs  of  the  immigrant  group  are  prob- 
ably the  greater  of  the  two  —  at  least  they  are  more 
immediate  —  and  the  receptive  attitude  of  the  newly 
arrived  immigrant  toward  all  elevating  influences  makes 
him  a  uniquely  promising  subject  for  missionary  work. 

The  unwillingness  on  the  part  of  many  wealthy  and 
fashionable  churches  to  accept  this  responsibility  in  the 
spirit  of  the  founder  of  the  Christian  religion  may  be 
attributed  to  ignorance  of  actual  conditions,  to  fastid- 
iousness, or  to  race  prejudice,  if  not  to  actual  indiffer- 
ence. But  if  the  church  is  to  fulfill  its  mission  in  twen- 
tieth century  America,  the  efforts  toward  serving  the 
spiritual  needs  of  the  alien  must  be  immensely  widened 
and  strengthenetl.  Reverend  Charles  Stelzle  gives  an 
ironical  epitome  of  the  situation  in  the  story  of  the 
church  in  New  York  City  which  sold  its  fine  building 


298  IMMIGRATION 

because  there  were  too  many  foreigners  in  the  neighbor- 
hood, and  sent  the  proceeds  to  the  Board  of  Foreign 
Missions.^ 

In  regard  to  that  set  of  social  conditions  which  are 
represented  by  statistics  of  births,  marriages,  and  deaths, 
no  definite  statistical  data  for  the  country  at  large  are 
available.  The  census  reports  do  not  make  the  neces- 
sary distinctions  between  native  and  foreign  born  to 
serve  as  a  basis  of  comparison.  Such  a  comparison  is, 
in  fact,  practically  impossible,  for  the  composition  of 
the  foreign-born  element  of  the  population  in  respect  to 
sex,  age,  and  conjugal  condition  differs  so  widely  from 
that  of  a  normal  population  that  any  comparative  rates, 
based  on  general  statistics,  would  be  meaningless.  Thus 
a  foreign-born  death  rate,  based  simply  on  total  deaths 
and  total  population,  would  probably  be  remarkably  low. 
For,  as  has  been  shown,  the  foreign-born  population  is 
largely  in  the  middle  age  groups.  They  have  passed 
the  dangerous  period  of  childhood,  and  many  of  them, 
with  advancing  age,  go  home  to  die.  But  if  compared 
with  a  selected  group  of  native-born,  of  the  same  sex 
and  age,  the  foreign-born  would  probably  show  a  high 
death  rate,  on  account  of  the  prevalence  of  industrial 
accidents  and  diseases,  and  unhygienic  living  conditions. 

Similar  considerations  hold  true  as  regards  the  birth 
rate  and  marriage  rate.  In  respect  to  the  former,  it 
has  been  observed  in  another  connection  that  the  birth 
rate  of  the  foreign-born  is  extraordinarily  high  for  the 
first  generation.  As  the  length  of  residence  of  any  foreign 
group  in  this  country  increases,  its  birth  rate  tends  to 
approach  that  of  the  native-born  until,  as  has  been  said, 

1  The  Workingman  and  Social  Problems,  p.  32.  Cf.  White,  Gaylord  S., 
"The  Protestant  Church  and  the  Immigrant,"  The  Survey,  Sept.  25,  1909. 


CONDITIONS,   ECONOMIC   AND    SOCIAL    299 

"the  probability  is  that  when  immigrants  have  lived 
with  us  so  long  that  their  grandparents  were  born  in  the 
land,  there  is  little  more  difference  between  the  two 
stocks  in  reproductivity  than  between  any  other  equally 
extensive  groups  taken  at  random."  ^  The  study  made 
by  the  Immigration  Commission  of  the  fecundity  of 
immigrant  women  shows  that  women  born  of  foreign 
parents  have  a  much  greater  fecundity  than  those  born 
of  native  parents. 

In  respect  to  marriages,  comparative  rates  would 
have  little  meaning  unless  they  could  be  very  carefully 
refined.  The  relative  number  of  foreign-born  women 
is  so  small,  and  the  number  of  men  who  have  left  wives 
on  the  other  side  so  large,  and  the  temporary  character 
of  the  residence  of  many  ahens  so  marked,  as  to  put  the 
entire  question  of  marriage  among  the  foreign-born 
into  an  abnormal  status.  Many  obstacles  prevent  the 
free  intermarriage  of  foreigners  with  natives.  Mar- 
riages between  the  foreign-born  in  this  country  are  prob- 
ably much  more  infrequent  than  would  be  the  case  in 
a  normal  population  of  the  same  size.  Even  in  the  case 
of  the  second  generation  of  immigrants  Professor  Com- 
mons finds  that  the  proportion  of  marriages  is  smaller 
than  among  the  native-born.^  The  effect  of  this  is  to 
increase  the  tendency,  already  noticed,  to  augment  the 
population  of  this  country  by  new  immigration,  rather 
than  by  the  reproduction  of  elements  already  here. 

For  recreation  the  foreign-born  are  limited  to  vir- 
tually the  same  resources  as  the  natives  of  the  working 
class.  The  dance  hall,  the  moving  picture  show,  the 
cheap  theater,  and  the  recreation  park  hold  the  prom- 

1  Anderson,  W .  I,  ,  The  Country  Town,  p.  164. 
'  Commons,  J.  R.,  op.  cit.,  p.  203. 


300  IMMIGRATION 

inent  places.     For  the   men  of   some  races   the   saloon, 
and  for  others  the  imported  coffeehouse,  furnish  a  place 
for  meeting  and  social  relaxation.     The  need  of  recrea- 
tional facilities  for  the  working  classes,  so  long  neglected 
in  this  country,  is  beginning  to  be  recognized  and  met  in 
every  up-to-date  American  city.     In  all  such  advantages 
/the  foreign-born  will  have  their  share.     There  are  also 
i    other  efforts,  such  as  the  revival  of  folk  dancing  among 
'    foreign  groups,  and  the  giving  of  dramas  which  appeal  to 
1   the  immigrants,   which  have  the  foreigner  directly  in 
I   view.     These  merit  hearty  commendation.     Yet  much 
remains  to  be  done.     The  problem  of  recreation  can  be 
solved  only  in  connection  with  the  problem  of  general 
industrial    conditions.     The    average    adult    worker    in 
many  of  our  industries  is  too  much  exhausted  at  the  close 
of  his  day's  work  to  take  much  interest  in  recreation  of 
any  kind.     All  too  often,  also,  the  time  and  the  pecuniary 
means  are  alike  lacking  for  forms  of  recreation  which 
would  be  of  great  value.     There  needs  to  be  more  recog- 
nition of  the  fact  that  the  workman,  though  a  foreigner, 
fC       must  have  relaxation  and  diversion  to  promote  his  highest 
\  welfare,  just  as  truly  as  those  in  higher  stations.^ 

'  It  is  a  suggestive  fact  that  the  word  "recreation"  does  not  occur  in  the 
indexes  of  Hall's  Immigration,  Jenks  antl  Lauck's  The  Immigration  Prob- 
lem, Commons'  Races  and  Immigrants  in  America,  Coolidge's  Chinese  Im- 
migration, or  Balch's  Our  Slavic  Fclloiv  Citizens.  For  descriptions  of  the  rec- 
reations of  the  foreign-born  see  Kenngott,  George  F.,  The  Record  of  a  City, 
Ch.  VIII;  City  Wilderness,  Ch.  VITI ;  Americans  in  Process,  Ch.  VIII; 
Roberts,  Peter,  The  New  Immigration,  Ch.  XVIII. 


CHAPTER  XV 

CONDITIONS    AFFECTING    THE    COUNTRY.       WAGES. 
PAUPERISM.      CRIME.      INSANITY 

Turning  to  those  aspects  of  the  immigration  situa- 
tion in  this  country  which  more  immediately  affect  the 
life  of  the  American  people  as  a  whole,  we  find  that  they 
group  themselves  under  nine  main  heads,  as  follows : 
wages  and  standard  of  living,  pauperism,  crime,  insanity, 
industrial  efficiency  and  progress,  amount  and  distribu- 
tion of  wealth,  crises,  social  stratification,  and  politics. 
In  each  of  these  categories  certain  preliminary  effects 
are  already  observable,  and  other  much  more  extensive 
ones  may  be  predicted  on  a  theoretic  and  hypothetical 
basis. 

As  regards  wages,  we  have  already  made  a  careful 
study  of  what  may  be  taken  as  typical  immigrant  wages. 
The  question  now  is,  how  have  these  wages  affected  the 
earnings  of  the  great  body  of  American  workmen  ?  Has 
this  admittedly  low  wage  scale  of  the  foreign  labor  body 
exercised  a  depressing  effect  upon  the  remuneration  of 
the  native  American,  or  has  the  latter  been  enabled,  by 
relinquishing  the  lower  grades  of  labor  to  the  foreigner, 
to  avail  himself  of  higher  and  better  paid  positions  ? 

This  question,  Uke  many  others  of  its  class,  involves 
the  problem  of  determining  what  would  have  happened 
if  history  had  been  different  in  some  single  particular. 
It  is  a  most  perilous,  and  often  profitless,  field  to  enter. 
It  is  apparently  impossible  for  statisticians  to  determine 

301 


302  IMMIGRATION 

with  certainty  what  has  been  the  course  of  real  wages 
within  the  past  half  century  or  so.  There  is  no  doubt 
that  money  wages  have  gone  up.  There  is  also  no  doubt 
that  the  average  price  of  commodities  has  gone  up.  The 
question  is  whether  average  prices  or  average  wages  have 
gone  up  the  faster.  The  most  reliable  tables  covering  this 
subject  are  probably  those  of  the  Bureau  of  Labor,  and 
these  have  been  discontinued  since  1907.  As  far  as  the 
showing  which  they  make  can  be  depended  upon,  it 
seems  to  indicate  that  there  has  been  a  very  shght  rise 
in  the  purchasing  power  of  full-time  weekly  wages  since 
1890.^  Granting  this,  the  question  still  remains,  would 
not  the  American  workman  have  enjoyed  a  much  greater 
increase  in  real  wages  during  this  period,  if  he  had  been 
allowed  to  reap  the  full  advantage  of  his  economic  posi- 
tion in  the  country,  without  having  to  meet  the  compe- 
tition of  vast  num.bers  of  foreign  laborers  ?  The  answer 
to  this  question  must  rest  on  pure  theory,  as  its  statis- 
tical proof  would  involve  a  reenactment  of  past  history, 
which  is  a  manifest  impossibility. 

According  to  the  established  laws  of  economics  there 
are  two  ways  in  which  immigration  may  operate  to  lower 
wages.  First,  by  increasing  the  supply  of  labor  in  the 
country,  and  thereby  diminishing  the  amount  of  remu- 
neration which  the  individual  laborer  can  command. 
Second,  by  introducing  a  body  of  laborers  whose  cus- 
tomary wage  in  the  countries  they  come  from,  and  whose 
corresponding  standard  of  living,  is  much  lower  than  the 
prevailing  standard  in  the  new  country.  This  factor 
operates,  not  by  increasing  the  number  of  laborers  bid- 
ding for  employment,  but  by  lowering  the  amount  of  the 

'  Statistical  Abstract  of  the  U.  S.,  igio,  p.  251.  Cf.  also  Ely,  R.  T.,  Out- 
lines of  Economics,  p.  340,  and  Streightofif,  F.  H.,  Standard  of  Living,  p.  55. 


CONDITIONS   AFFECTING   THE   COUNTRY    303 

initial  bid  on  the  part  of  a  sufficient  number  of  laborers 
to  fix  the  remuneration  for  the  whole  lot.  As  to  the 
first  of  these  ways,  if  the  argument  contained  in  Chapter 
XI  is  vaUd,  it  is  not  probable  that  in  the  long  run  im- 
migration has  materially  increased  the  total  population 
of  the  United  States.  But  it  has,  from  time  to  time, 
caused  a  marked  temporary  increase  in  the  body  of  un- 
skilled labor,  and  this,  as  will  be  shown  later,  is  an  im- 
portant matter.  However  this  may  be,  the  second  of 
these  two  ways  has  undoubtedly  been  by  far  the  more 
instrumental  in  reducing  the  average  wage  of  the  Ameri- 
can workman.  It  is  not  because  he  has  had  to  compete 
with  more  laborers,  so  much  as  with  cheaper  laborers, 
that  the  American  workman  has  failed  to  secure  a  higher 
remuneration  for  his  services.  It  is  what  Professor 
Commons  has  called  the  "  competitive  struggle  for  stand- 
ards of  living"  ^  which  has  been  the  determining  factor, 
and  the  whole  matter  can  be  best  understood  by  taking 
it  up  in  the  light  of  the  general  standard  of  living,  rather 
than  of  mere  wages. 

The  standard  of  Hving  is  the  index  of  the  comfort  and 
true  prosperity  of  a  nation.  A  high  standard  is  a  price- 
less heritage,  which  ought  to  be  guarded  at  all  cost. 
The  United  States  has  always  prided  itself  on  the  high 
standard  of  living  of  its  common  people,  but  has  not 
always  understood  on  what  that  standard  rests.  The 
standard  of  living  is  the  resultant  of  two  great  factors, 
the  stage  of  the  arts,  and  the  ratio  of  men  to  land.  It 
may  be  improved  by  bettering  the  methods  of  production 
and  utilization  of  natural  resources,  or  by  reducing  the 
ratio  between  men  and  land,  i.e.  by  limiting  the  in- 
crease of  population.     It  may  be  lowered  either  by  a 

*  Races  and  Immigrants  in  America,  p.  115. 


304  IMMIGI^LVTION 

retrogression  in  the  stage  of  the  arts  —  something  which 
can  hardly  be  conceived  of  under  our  present  civilization 
—  or  by  an  increase  in  the  ratio  between  men  and  land. 
Both  of  these  suppositions  assume  that  the  amount  of 
land  remains  stationary.  If  large  tracts  of  good  land 
are  made  available  by  any  means,  it  gives  opportunity 
for  a  decided  improvement  in  the  standard  of  hving,  and 
if  we  can  conceive  of  large  areas  of  good  land  being 
actually  lost,  there  would  be  an  inevitable  lowering  in 
the  standard.  In  point  of  fact,  standards  of  hving  are 
much  more  likely  to  go  up  than  down.  The  history  of 
civiHzation  has  been  that  of  increasing  standards.  A 
retrogression  in  the  stage  of  the  arts  is  not  hkely  to  take 
place  on  a  large  scale ;  neither  is  it  probable  that,  other 
things  being  equal,  men  will  increase  their  rate  of  re- 
production, for  the  very  reason  that  such  an  increase 
would  involve  a  lowering  in  the  standard  of  living. 

A  standard  of  living,  once  established,  has  great  tenac- 
ity, and  people  will  suffer  almost  anything  in  the  way 
of  hardship  before  they  will  reduce  it.  If,  for  any  reason, 
the  dilemma  is  presented  to  a  people  of  lowering  their 
standard  or  of  limiting  their  rate  of  increase,  they  will  in 
general  adopt  the  latter  alternative.  This  will  come 
about,  not  so  much  as  the  result  of  a  conscious  choice, 
as  by  the  unconscious  adaptation  to  surrounding  con- 
ditions.^ On  the  other  hand,  if  natural  conditions  are 
gradually   and   steadily   improving,  it   may   frequently 

'  Professor  Taussig  says  that  there  is  evidence  that  "a  standard  of  living  so 
tenaciously  held  as  to  affect  natural  increase"  is  a  force  which  acts  on  the  num- 
bers of  the  well-to-do  in  modern  countries  and  is  coming  into  operation  in  the  upper 
tier  of  manual  workmen.  Prin.  oj Econ.,  Vol.  II,  p.  152.  In  these  upper  groups 
it  operates  mainly  upon  the  birth  rate.  In  the  lower  groups,  where  there  is  less 
conscious  control  of  the  rate  of  reproduction,  a  decrease  in  the  means  of  subsist- 
ence must  almost  inevitably  result  in  an  increase  of  the  death  rate,  particularly 
of  infants. 


CONDITIONS   AFFECTING   THE   COUNTRY     305 

happen  that  the  rate  of  reproduction  will  keep  pace 
therewith,  so  that  the  standard  of  hving  will  remain  es- 
sentially the  same.  But  if  some  sudden  improvement  in 
conditions  appears  —  Uke  the  opening  up  of  great 
stretches  of  new  land,  or  some  far-reaching  improvement 
in  the  arts  —  the  standard  of  living  may  rise  appreciably 
before  the  forces  of  reproduction  have  had  time  to  offset 
the  new  advantage.  In  other  words,  the  rise  of  stand- 
ards of  living  does  not  take  place  ordinarily  by  a  steady 
and  unvarying  progress,  so  much  as  by  successive  steps 
or  waves.  The  regular,  continuous  improvements  in 
conditions  account  for  Ufted  standards  less  than  the 
exceptional,  epochal  occurrences.  Such  occurrences, 
being  inherent  in  the  cosmic  laws  and  in  the  constitution 
of  human  nature,  transpire  with  sufficient  frequency  to 
make  possible  great  advances  in  standards  of  living  over 
long  periods  of  time. 

Let  us  apply  these  principles  to  the  case  of  the  United 
States,  and  seek  to  determine  what  part  immigration 
has  played  in  their  operation.^  At  the  beginning  of  its 
career  the  United  States  was  most  favorably  circum- 
stanced as  regards  its  standard  of  hving.  A  people 
whose  knowledge  of  the  arts  represented  the  highest 
product  of  the  civihzation  of  the  day  was  set  down  in  a 
practically  uninhabited  country,  apparently  unlimited  in 
extent,  and  of  marvelous  fertihty  and  abundance  of 
natural  resources.  All  of  the  old  checks  to  population 
were  removed,  and  there  resulted  a  natural  increase  of 
numbers  unprecedented  for  a  corresponding  area  and 
extent  of  time  in  the  annals  of  the  race.     But  even  this 

'  A  certain  amount  of  repetition  of  matter  already  given  —  particularly  in  the 
discussion  of  the  cfTccts  of  immigration  on  population  —  has  seemed  unavoidable 
in  the  following  paragraphs.  The  matters  of  population,  wages,  and  standards 
of  living  are  obviously  closely  associated. 


3o6  IMMIGRATION 

could  not  keep  up  with  the  development  of  natural 
resources,  and  a  general  standard  of  living  was  estab- 
lished far  ahead  of  any  other  nation  of  the  period. 

Into  this  favored  section  of  the  earth's  surface  have 
been  introduced  ever  increasing  numbers  of  the  lower 
classes  of  foreign  nations.  What  has  been  their  effect 
upon  the  prevailing  standard  of  living  ?  As  a  major 
premise,  it  will  be  granted  that  the  standard  of  hving  of 
the  working  classes  of  the  United  States  has  been  and 
still  is  superior  to  that  of  the  nations  which  have  fur- 
nished the  bulk  of  the  immigrants.  Common  observation 
and  general  testimony  establish  this  beyond  the  need  of 
proof.  Particularly  at  the  present  time,  if  this  were 
not  so,  very  few  of  our  immigrants  would  come,  for,  as 
we  have  seen,  this  is  the  great  incentive  which  draws 
them.^  It  is  significant,  however,  that  the  bulk  of  im- 
migration has  been  recruited  from  more  and  more  back- 
ward races  of  Europe  as  the  decades  have  succeeded 
each  other.  There  is  not  now  the  relative  advantage 
for  the  peasant  of  England,  Germany,  or  Scandinavia 
that  there  was  during  the  first  two  thirds  of  the  nine- 
teenth century.^  As  regards  the  new  immigrants  — 
those  who  have  come  during  the  last  thirty  years  — 
the  one  great  reason  for  their  coming  is  that  they  believe 
that  on  the  wage  which  they  can  receive  in  America  they 
can  establish  a  higher  standard  than  the  one  to  which 
they  have  been  accustomed.  And  this  wage  for  which 
they  arc  willing  to  sell  their  labor  is  in  general  appre- 
ciably below  that  which  the  native  American  workman 

1  Sec  page  145. 

2  Mr.  Earle  Clark  has  shown  by  a  comparison  of  recent  figures  that  "the  wages 
paid  in  the  Massachusetts  cotton  mills  do  not  enable  the  men  employed  to 
maintain  a  standard  of  living  higher  than  that  which  the  men  employed  in  Eng- 
lish mills  can  maintain  upon  English  wages."     The  Survey,  March  23,  1912. 


CONDITIONS   AFFECTING  THE   COUNTRY    307 

requires  to  support  his  standard.^  What  does  this 
mean  ?  It  means  in  the  first  place  that  the  American 
workman  is  continually  underbid  in  the  labor  market 
by  vast  numbers  of  ahen  laborers  who  can  do  his  work 
approximately  as  well  as  he.  But  it  means  more  than 
this.  It  means  that  he  is  denied  the  opportunity  of 
profiting  by  those  exceptionally  advantageous  periods 
which  as  we  have  seen  recur  from  time  to  time,  and  pro- 
vide the  possibiHty  of  an  improved  standard.  From 
his  point  of  view  these  periods  include  any  circumstances 
which  occasion  a  sudden  increase  in  the  demand  for 
labor  —  such  as  the  estabhshment  of  a  great  new  in- 
dustry or  the  opening  up  of  new  territory  by  the  com- 
pletion of  a  railroad  or  recurring  "good  times"  after  a 
period  of  depression.  If  this  new  demand  must  per- 
force be  met  by  the  labor  already  in  the  country,  there 
would  be  an  opportunity  for  an  increase  in  wages  to  the 
working  man.  But  the  condition  which  actually  con- 
fronts the  American  workman  at  such  a  time  is  this  — 
not  only  is  the  amount  of  wages  which  can  be  success- 
fully demanded  by  labor  profoundly  influenced  by  the 
number  and  grade  of  foreign  workers  already  in  the  coun- 
try, but  there  comes  at  once,  in  response  to  improved 
conditions,  a  sudden  and  enormous  increase  in  the  volume 
of  immigratiop.  Thus  the  potential  advantage  which 
might  accrue  to  the  laborers  already  in  the  country  is 
wholly  neutralized.     The  fluctuating  nature  of  the  im- 

1 A  further  consideration,  in  addition  to  the  difference  in  standards,  which  gives 
the  foreigner  an  advantage  over  the  native,  is  found  in  the  different  price  levels 
here  and  abroad.  In  general  the  price  levels  in  the  countries  from  which  the  new 
immigration  comes  are  lower  than  in  the  United  States.  This  means  that  the 
immigrant,  who  saves  part  of  his  earnings  for  the  support  of  a  family  in  Europe, 
finds  it  possible  to  accept  a  lower  wage  than  the  native,  who  supports  his  family 
in  liiis  country-,  and  yet  keep  his  family  on  a  standard  equivalent  to  that  of  the 
American  workman. 


3o8  IMMIGKVTION 

migration  current  is  of  vital  importance  to  the  American 
workman.  It  means  that  for  him  the  problem  is  not  that 
of  taking  the  fullest  advantage  of  a  possibility  of  an  im- 
proved standard,  but  of  maintaining  intact  the  standard 
which  he  has.  We  have  seen  that,  in  the  long  run,  the 
only  way  in  which  he  can  do  this  is  by  limiting  the 
size  of  his  family. 

The  familiar  argument  that  the  immigrants  simply 
force  the  native  laborers  up  into  higher  positions  is  often 
urged  in  this  connection.  It  is  hard  to  see  how  any 
one  can  seriously  hold  this  opinion.  The  fallacy  of  it 
has  already  been  shown.  It  is,  of  course,  perfectly 
obvious  that  at  the  present  time  most  of  the  native 
workmen  in  industry  are  in  the  better  paid  positions, 
and  that  the  lower  grades  are  occupied  by  foreigners. 
But  the  question  is,  are  there  as  many  native  workmen 
in  high  positions  as  there  would  have  been  in  all  positions 
if  there  had  been  no  immigration  ?  This  is  what  the 
"forcing  up"  argument  assumes,  and  the  falsity  of  the 
position  seems  self-evident.  It  appears  much  more 
reasonable  to  beheve  that  while  a  few  native  workers 
have  been  forced  up,  a  vastly  larger  number  are  working 
side  by  side  with  the  immigrants  and  earning  approxi- 
mately the  same  wages  —  to  say  nothing  of  that  other 
body  of  native  labor  which  the  immigrants  have  pre- 
vented from  ever  being  brought  into  existence. 

Even  if  it  were  true  that  the  native  American  himself 
is  as  well  off  as  he  would  have  been  without  immigration, 
that  would  not  settle  the  matter.  The  question  is  that 
of  the  standard  of  living  of  the  American  workman.  If 
the  American  workman  happens  to  be  a  foreigner,  it  is 
just  as  important  for  the  welfare  of  the  nation,  and  of 
humanity,   that  he    be   properly  housed,   fed,  clothed, 


CONDITIONS   AFFECTING   THE    COUNTRY    309 

educated,  and  amused  as  if  he  were  a  native.  We 
would  still  have  to  face  the  fact  of  a  standard  continually- 
retarded  by  accessions  of  newcomers,  representing  ever 
lower  economic  strata.  Can  we  afford,  as  a  nation,  to 
allow  the  standard  of  Hving  of  the  workman,  whoever 
he  is,  to  suffer  in  this  way  ? 

It  appears  that  the  forces  whose  working  has  been 
outHned  in  the  preceding  paragraphs  can  have  only  one 
logical  outcome  —  namely,  the  depression  of  the  wage 
scale  of  the  American  workman.  If  immigration  has 
not  absolutely  lowered  the  wages  and  the  standard  of 
living  of  the  American  workman,  it  certainly  has  kept 
them  from  rising  to  the  level  that  they  otherwise  would 
have  reached.  This  is  the  opinion  reached  by  many  of 
the  most  careful  students  of  immigration  in  the  country, 
and  it  seems  the  only  tenable  one.^  And  after  all,  this 
is  the  really  important  thing.  For  it  must  not  be  for- 
gotten that  poverty,  and  riches,  and  standards  of  living 
are  all  purely  relative  terms.  It  is  not  a  question  of 
how  much  a  man  has,  absolutely,  as  of  how  much  he  has 
in  comparison  with  those  around  him,  or  how  much  he 
might  have  had.  So  that  the  common  statement  that 
the  American  workman  of  to-day  has  more  of  the  com- 
forts and  luxuries  of  life  than  one  in  the  same  class  fifty 
or  one  hundred  years  ago,  by  no  means  meets  the  case. 

1  Professor  Taussig  says,  "The  position  of  common  laborers  in  the  United 
States  (that  is,  in  the  Northern  and  Western  States)  has  been  kept  at  its  low  level 
only  by  the  continued  inflow  of  immigrants.  .  .  .  These  constant  new  arrivals 
have  kept  down  the  wages  of  the  lowest  group,  and  have  accentuated  also  the 
lines  of  social  demarcation  between  this  group  and  others."  Principles  of 
Economics,  Vol.  II,  p.  13Q.     See  also  p.  234. 

The  same  general  opinion  is  expressed  by  Jenks  and  Lauck,  The  Immigra- 
tion Problem,  p.  igs;  by  Hall,  Immigriition,  pp.  123-131 ;  by  Commons,  Races 
and  Immigrants  in  America,  pp.  151,  152,  150;  by  Miss  Balch,  Our  Slavic  Fellow 
Citizens,  pp.  288-289;  and  by  Wilkins  (with  reference  to  England),  The  Alien 
Invasion,  p.  68. 


3IO  IMMIGRATION 

If  his  share  in  the  wonderful  prosperity  of  the  nation  has 
not  increased  at  least  in  the  same  proportion  as  that  of 
the  capitalist,  or  the  professional  man,  or  other  members 
of  society,  then  he  has  really  suffered  loss. 

Immigration  has  seriously  compHcated  the  problems 
of  the  trade-unions  in  this  country.  Both  the  need  and 
the  difficulty  of  organization  have  been  greatly  increased. 
The  traditional  attitude  of  the  unions  toward  immigra- 
tion has  been  one  of  opposition.  Restrictive  measures, 
in  particular  the  contract  labor  law,  have  met  with  their 
approval  and  support.  But  when  the  immigrants  are 
once  admitted  to  the  country,  the  unions  are  under  the 
necessity  of  either  receiving  them  or  suffering  from  their 
competition.  A  large  body  of  unskilled  laborers,  with 
low  standards,  unafhHated  with  the  unions,  is  most 
prejudicial  to  the  success  of  unionism.  AUen  races  differ 
as  to  their  adaptability  to  union  control.  Some  of  the 
races  of  southeastern  Europe  are  looked  upon  as  natural 
strike-breakers.  The  Irish,  on  the  othe  hand,  are  nat- 
ural organizers,  and  at  the  present  time  tend  to  monop- 
oKze  the  direction  of  the  unions.  In  some  cases  a  large 
influx  of  foreigners  has  practically  put  the  unions  out  of 
the  running.^  In  others,  the  unions  come  to  be  made  up 
largely  of  foreigners.  At  times  it  is  necessary  to  organize 
the  different  racial  elements  into  separate  subgroups.^ 

On  the  other  hand,  the  unions  exercise  a  great  educa- 
tive influence  on  the  immigrants  —  often  practically  the 
only  one  with  which  the  adult  foreigner  comes  in  con- 
tact. They  encourage  him  to  learn  English,  imbue  him 
with   higher   standards   of   Uving,   and   teach   him    the 

*  Cf.  Byington,  M.,  Homestead,  pp.  6-11. 

*Cf.  Ripley,  William  Z.,  "Race  Factors  in  Labor  Unions,"  Atlantic 
Monthly,  93 :  299. 


CONDITIONS   AFFECTING  THE   COUNTRY    311 

principles    of    independent    thought   and    self-govern- 
ment,^ 

One  of  the  chief  objections  to  unrestricted  immigra- 
tion has  always  been  the  behef  that  it  seriously  increased 
the  amount  of  pauperism  and  crime  in  the  country,  and 
added  to  the  burden  of  relief  and  correction.  We  have 
seen  how  large  a  part  this  objection  played  in  the  early 
opposition  to  immigration,  not  only  in  colonial  days, 
but  during  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
Even  in  our  day,  in  spite  of  the  laws  prohibiting  the 
entrance  of  criminals,  paupers,  and  persons  likely  to  be- 
come a  public  charge,  there  is  a  widespread  impression 
that  these  two  evils  are  increased  through  immigration. 

The  prominence  of  pauperism  as  an  item  in  the  im- 
migration agitation  has  led  to  the  production  of  a  large 
amount  of  material  on  the  subject.  Nevertheless, 
most  of  it  has  been  fragmentary  and  untrustworthy. 
This  has  been  largely  due  to  the  incompleteness  and 
lack  of  uniformity  of  the  records  of  various  eleemosy- 
nary institutions,  and  the  difficulty  of  securing  returns 
from  all  the  manifold  agencies  of  relief.  At  the  present 
time,  however,  as  a  result  of  careful  studies  by  the  Im- 
migration Commission,  this  is  one  of  the  very  few  effects 
of  immigration  about  which  we  may  feel  justified  in 
setting  down  definite  conclusions. 

According  to  statistics  for  the  year  1850  a  native-born 
populationof  21,947,274 contributed 66,434  of  the  paupers 
who  were  wholly  or  partially  supported  in  the  country, 
while  a  foreign-born  population  of  2,244,602  contributed 
68,538.^     This  was  manifestly  enough  to  arouse  deep 

1  Cf.  Stewart,  Ethclbert,   ''Influence   of  Trade-Unions  on  Immigrants,"  in 
LaFollettc,  R.  M.,  The  Making  of  America,  Vol.  VIII.  pp.  226  ii. 
'Congressional  Globe,  33d  Cong.,  2d  Ses.,   391. 


312  IMMIGRATION 

consternation,  and  had  not  the  current  of  immigration 
fallen  off  in  the  latter  fifties  we  should  probably  have  had 
a  pauper  restriction  clause  in  the  federal  statutes  long 
before  we  did.  The  enactment  and  enforcement  of 
such  a  statute  has  prevented  the  recurrence  of  any  such 
state  of  affairs  in  recent  years.  Nevertheless,  as  one 
glances  at  random  over  the  reports  of  various  charitable 
organizations  he  is  impressed  with  the  fact  that  the 
number  of  foreign-born  paupers  is  out  of  all  pro- 
portion to  the  total  number  of  foreign-born  inhabitants. 
Thus  in  Massachusetts  in  1895  a  foreign-born  popu- 
lation of  30.6  per  cent  furnished  47.1  per  cent  of  the 
paupers.^  The  report  of  the  Associated  Charities  of 
Boston  for  1894  stated  that  nearly  all  of  their 
applicants  were  of  foreign  birth  or  parentage,-  while  in 
the  same  city,  three  years  later,  the  Industrial  Aid 
Society  reported  that  56  per  cent  of  the  men  given 
work  in  the  men's  department  were  foreign-born, 
while  66  per  cent  of  those  aided  by  the  Provident  Aid 
Society  were  of  this  class.^  The  reports  of  the  Wis- 
consin State  Board  of  Charities  for  the  years  187 1 
to  1898  show  that,  on  the  average,  the  foreign- 
born  paupers  considerably  outnumber  the  native- 
born.  Similar  figures  may  be  obtained  from  many 
sources.'' 

But  the  question  can  be  settled  only  by  taking  the 
whole  country  into  account.  The  Special  Report  of  the 
Census  Bureau  on  Paupers  in  Almshouses,  1904,  gives 
the  following  figures  as  to  the  proportions  of  foreign  and 
native  paupers  in  the  almshouses  of  the  country  (p.  6)  : 

'  Hall,  P.  F.,  Immigration,  p.  i6i.  '  /j^._  p.  165.  '  Ibid.,  p.  161. 

*  .Sec,  for  example,  JMass.  Report  on  the  Unemployed,  1895,  pp.  18,  116.  Re- 
port Ohio  State  Board  of  Charities,  1902,  pp.  178  B. 


CONDITIONS   AFFECTING   THE   COUNTRY    313 


Nativity 

Pes  Cent  Distribution  of 
Paupers 

Per  Cent  Distribution  of 
General  Population 

1903 

1S90 

1880 

1903 

1890 

1880 

Native  white  . 
Foreign  white  . 

51.6 
39-3 

50.2 
37.8 

56.8 
34-6 

74-5 
13-4 

73-2 
14.6 

73-4 
I3-I 

These  figures  are  the  most  authoritative  and  inclusive 
which  there  are,  covering  the  ahnshouses  of  the  country, 
and  show  a  ratio  of  paupers  among  the  foreign-born 
vastly  in  excess  of  the  ratio  of  total  population. 

The  paupers  in  almshouses,  however,  do  not  by  any 
means  include  the  total  number  of  persons  who  belong 
in  that  category.  There  are  large  numbers  of  persons 
receiving  relief,  who  never  get  inside  the  almshouses. 
To  cover  this  class,  the  Immigration  Commission  made  a 
special  study  of  immigrants  as  charity  seekers,  which 
included  the  work  done  by  the  charity  organization 
societies  in  forty-three  cities,  during  the  six  months  from 
December  i,  1908,  to  May  31,  1909.  The  cities  were  dis- 
tributed as  follows:  North  Atlantic  states,  17;  North 
Central  states,  18  ;  Southern  states,  4  ;  Western  states,  4. 

In  the  terminology  of  this  report,  a  "case"  means  an 
individual  or  family  assisted.  The  head  of  the  case  is  the 
husband,  if  he  is  living  at  home,  or  the  wife  if  widowed  or 
deserted.  If  there  are  no  parents  or  real  family,  the 
one  upon  whom  the  responsibility  falls  is  the  head  of 
the  case,  or  otherwise,  the  one  asking  assistance.  The 
total  number  of  cases  for  which  information  was  secured 
is  31,685.  Of  these,  the  head  of  the  case  was  foreign- 
born  in  38.3  per  cent  of  the  cases,  native-born  of  foreign 
father  in  10.7  per  cent,  native-born  white  of  native 
father,  39.9  per  cent,  and  native-born  of  native  negro 


314  IMMIGRATION 

father,  ii  per  cent.  Of  the  persons  represented,  37.5  per 
cent  were  native  white  of  native  father,  and  42.3  per 
cent  foreign-born.  For  exact  conclusions,  comparison 
should  be  made  of  the  relation  of  the  percentage  of 
foreign-born  paupers  to  the  percentage  of  foreign-born 
in  the  total  population  in  each  separate  city.  For  general 
purposes  it  is  sufhcient  to  note  that  in  the  cities  of  2  5 ,000 
or  over  in  1910  —  which  include  all  of  the  forty-three 
cities  studied — the  percentages  of  foreign-born  were  20.2 
for  cities  of  25,000  to  100,000,  22.1  for  cities  of  100,000 
to  500,000,  and  33.6  for  cities  of  500,000  and  over.^ 

In  fifteen  out  of  the  forty-three  cities  one  half  or  more 
of  the  cases,  classed  by  the  head  of  the  case,  were  foreign- 
born,  Milwaukee  standing  at  the  head  of  the  list  with 
67  per  cent.  In  twelve  out  of  the  forty-three  cities, 
more  than  1 5  per  cent  of  the  cases  were  immigrants  of  the 
second  generation,  Milwaukee  again  standing  at  the 
head  with  25.5  per  cent.  These  two  classes  make  up  92.5 
per  cent  of  all  the  cases  for  this  city.  There  is  evidently 
more  than  one  thing  that  makes  Milwaukee  famous,  with 
a  possible  connection  between  them. 

In  regard  to  the  relative  importance  of  the  various 
foreign  races  in  this  respect,  we  find  that  the  Germans 
show  the  largest  proportion,  amounting  to  6.8  per  cent 
of  the  total  number  of  cases  and  7.1  per  cent  of  the  total 
number  of  persons.  The  next  in  order  are  the  Polish, 
with  6.5  per  cent  of  the  cases  and  8.6  per  cent  of  the  per- 
sons, and  the  Irish,  with  6.2  per  cent  of  the  cases,  and 
6.3  per  cent  of  the  persons. 

As  might  be  expected,  the  proportion  of  foreign-born 
is  much  larger  (more  than  half)  in  the  cities  of  the  North 
Atlantic  states  than  in  the  rest  of  the  country,  and  very 

*  Abstract  of  Thirteenth  Census,  pp.  92,  95,  96. 


CONDITIONS   AFFECTING  THE   COUNTRY    315 

small  (10  per  cent)  in  the  southern  cities.  It  is  inter- 
esting to  see  how  each  city  has  its  special  problem.  For 
instance,  in  Buffalo  32  per  cent  of  all  the  cases  were 
foreign-born  Poles,  and  in  Chicago  20  per  cent  were  of 
the  same  class.  In  Hartford  15.1  per  cent  of  the  cases 
were  foreign-born  Irish,  in  Lynn  10.7  per  cent  were 
foreign-born  Canadians  (other  than  French),  and  19.3 
per  cent  foreign-born  Irish.  In  Milwaukee  33.3  per 
cent  were  German,  in  Newport  22.2  per  cent  were  Irish, 
in  Orange  26.4  per  cent  Irish,  in  Rochester  14.6  per  cent 
south  Italian,  in  San  Francisco  23.7  per  cent  were  *' other 
races."  By  way  of  comparison,  it  is  interesting  to  note 
that  in  Washington  56.9  per  cent  of  the  cases  were  native- 
born  negroes  of  native  father.  In  ten  of  the  cities,  the 
native-born  whites  of  native  father  were  less  than  one 
fourth  of  the  cases. 

The  Hebrews  are  noted  for  looking  after  their  own  poor, 
yet  in  six  cities  more  than  5  per  cent  of  all  the  cases  were 
foreign-born  Hebrews.  In  Brooklyn  they  made  up  18.1 
per  cent,  and  in  Maiden  15.7  per  cent.  The  Germans 
rank  first  among  the  foreign  races  in  18  cities,  and  tie 
with  other  races  in  three  more.  The  Irish  rank  first  in 
nine  cities  and  tie  with  the  Germans  in  one  more.  The 
PoKsh  rank  first  in  four  cities  and  tie  in  one  more. 

One  more  piece  of  evidence  may  be  taken  from  the 
Report  of  the  Commissioner  General  of  Immigration  for 
1908  (p.  98).  It  is  there  shown  that  in  the  charitable 
institutions  (other  than  for  the  insane)  in  the  United 
States,  including  Alaska,  Hawaii,  and  Porto  Rico,  both 
public  and  private,  there  were,  at  the  time  this  investiga- 
tion was  made,  288.395  inmates,  of  whom  19,572  were 
aliens,  40.453  naturalized  citizens,  and  228,370  native- 
born.     The  percentages   are  native-born  79.2  per   cent 


3i6 


IMMIGRATION 


and  foreign-born  20.8  per  cent.  It  appears  that  the 
proportion  of  foreign-born  in  institutions  is  not  so  ex- 
tremely excessive  as  among  those  seeking  a  more  tem- 
porary reUef,  This  is  what  might  be  expected  in  the 
Hght  of  certain  considerations  respecting  the  make-up 
of  the  foreign-born  group  which  are  now  to  be  considered. 

It  thus  becomes  evident  that  from  whatever  source  the 
figures  are  taken,  the  percentage  of  foreign-born  depend- 
ents is  sadly  out  of  proportion  to  their  relative  number 
in  the  general  population.  The  absolute  figures  them- 
selves are  bad  enough.  But  a  further  consideration  of 
the  composition  of  the  foreign-born  element  will  demon- 
strate that  the  actual  showing  is  much  worse  than  the 
figures  would  indicate  on  their  face. 

We  have  seen  that  as  respects  their  economic  efficiency 
the  immigrants  are  a  picked  group.  The  same  is  true 
of  the  foreign-born  in  the  country.  This  is  especially 
evident  as  regards  the  age  distribution.  The  following 
table,  taken  from  the  census  of  1910,  illustrates  this  point: 

PER  CENT  OF  NATIVE-BORN  AND  FOREIGN-BORN 
OF  THE  GENERAL  POPULATION  I'N  THE  DIF- 
FERENT AGE   GROUPS^ 


Age  Period 

Native  White 

Foreign- 

BORN 

Native  Parentage 

Foreign  or 
Mixed  Parentage 

White 

Under  5  years  .     . 
5  to  14  years    . 
1 5  to  24  years  .     .     . 
25  to  44  years  . 
45  to  64  years . 
65  years  and  over 

13.2 
22.6 
19.7 
26.2 

13-6  J 
4.4 

59-5 

14.2 
24.1 
21.6 
27.6 
II. 2 
1.4 

60.4 

0.8 
4.9 

iS-8 
44.1 

2.^.4 

8.9 

85.3 

1  Abstract  of  Thirteenth  Census,  p.  126. 


CONDITIONS   AFFECTING   THE   COUNTRY     317 

It  will  be  seen  that  there  is  a  much  larger  proportion 
of  the  foreign-born  in  the  middle-age  groups,  that  is,  in 
the  period  of  greatest  productivity,  than  of  the  native- 
born.  There  ought  accordingly  to  be  a  smaller  percent- 
age of  pauperism,  rather  than  a  larger  one. 

The  sex  distribution  contributes  a  further  element  to 
this  disparity.  In  1910,  in  the  native-born  white  popula- 
tion there  were  102.7  males  to  100  females.  In  the 
foreign-born  white  population  there  were  129.2  males  to 
100  females.  This  should  lessen  the  liability  of  the 
foreign-born  to  pauperism. 

Another  factor  which  enters  in  to  comphcate  statistical 
comparisons  of  pauperism  among  immigrants  and  native- 
born  is  the  matter  of  the  age  at  which  persons  become 
dependent,  or,  in  the  case  of  the  immigrants,  the  num- 
ber of  years  they  have  resided  in  the  United  States  be- 
fore they  become  dependent.  There  are  two  periods  at 
which  the  immigrant  is  most  Ukely  to  need  relief.  The 
first  is  immediately  after  landing,  when  he  has  exhausted 
his  slender  store  of  money,  and  has  not  yet  found  means 
of  self-support.  Seven  per  cent  of  the  entire  Jewish 
immigration  to  the  United  States,  in  one  year,  found  it 
necessary  to  apply  at  the  office  of  the  United  Hebrew 
Charities  in  New  York,  within  a  short  time  after  their 
arrival.  Relief  granted  at  this  time  is  liable  to  be  tem- 
porary, and  the  immigrant  cannot  justly  be  considered  a 
pauper.  If  he  actually  becomes  dependent,  he  is  of 
course  Hable  to  deportation. 

The  second,  and  vastly  more  important,  period  is 
several  years  after  arrival,  when  the  immigrant  has 
exhausted  the  prime  of  his  strength,  and  becomes  one  of 
the  unfit  in  the  keen  struggle  for  economic  existence. 
Those  who  become  dependent  at  this  time  are  likely  to 


3i8  IMMIGRATION 

remain  so  for  life.  They  are  those  who  have  been  unable 
or  unwilling  to  make  provision  for  old  age,  perhaps  being 
so  dazzled  by  the  apparent  richness  of  America  that  they 
gave  no  thought  to  a  possible  future  dearth,  perhaps 
having  sent  all  their  meager  savings  year  by  year  back 
to  friends  or  relatives  in  the  old  country,  possibly  never 
having  been  able  to  earn  more  than  a  bare  Hving  wage. 
Individuals  of  this  class  make  up  the  vast  majority  of  the 
foreign-born  paupers  in  our  almshouses.  The  census  of 
1890  showed  that  92  per  cent  of  the  foreign-born  male 
paupers  in  the  almshouses  of  the  United  States  had  been  in 
this  country  ten  years  or  more.  The  corresponding  figures 
for  the  twelfth  census  show  that  out  of  27,230  foreign- 
born  paupers  whose  length  of  residence  in  this  country 
is  known,  26,171,  or  96  per  cent,  had  been  here  ten  years 
or  more.^  The  facts  furnished  by  the  investigation  of  the 
Immigration  Commission  in  respect  to  persons  aided  by 
the  Charity  Organization  societies  are  similar ;  it  must  be 
borne  in  mind,  also,  in  respect  to  these  cases,  that  they 
largely  represent  instances  of  temporary  distress,  rather 
than  settled  dependence.  Of  all  the  foreign-born  heads  of 
cases  aided  by  these  societies,  44  per  cent  had  been  in 
the  United  States  twenty  years  or  more,  and  70.7  per  cent 
ten  years  or  more.  When  it  is  recollected  how  small  a  pro- 
portion of  our  foreign-born  population  have  been  in  this 
country  twenty  years  or  over,  or  even  ten  years  or  over, 
it  is  manifest  how  misleading  are  comparisons  in  respect  to 
pauperism  between  native-born  and  foreign-born,  based  on 
the  total  population  of  the  two  classes.  Thus,  according 
tothecensusof  I9io,only62.2  percent  of  the  total  foreign- 
born  population,  and  60.2  per  cent  of  the  foreign-born 
population  in  the  urban  communities,  had  immigrated  in 

'  Paupers  in  Almshouses,  p.  loi. 


CONDITIONS   AFFECTING  THE   COUNTRY    319 

the  year  1900  or  earlier.^  These  facts  also  point  to  a  pos- 
sible great  increase  of  pauperism  among  the  foreign-born, 
as  the  average  length  of  residence  of  this  class  increases. 

The  age  of  admission  to  the  almshouse  of  the  different 
population  groups  gives  corroborative  evidence  along 
the  same  Hne.  The  following  figures,  taken  from  the 
census  report  on  Paupers  in  Almshouses  (p.  129),  give 
the  average  age  at  admission  of  the  different  groups  in 
1904:  native  white  of  native  parentage,  45.6  years; 
native  white  of  foreign  parentage,  41.7  years;  native 
white  of  mixed  parentage,  38.3  years;  foreign-born 
white,  56.9  years.  The  high  average  age  of  the  foreign- 
born  is  due  in  part  to  the  relatively  small  number  of 
foreign-born  children  in  the  country.  But  it  is  un- 
doubtedly also  an  indication  of  the  effectiveness  of  the 
system  of  examination  in  weeding  out  those  whose  liability 
to  dependence  in  the  near  future  can  be  detected.  It  fur- 
thermore adds  to  the  apprehension  with  which  we  must 
look  forward  to  the  time  when  a  greater  proportion  of  our 
foreign-born  residents  will  be  above  the  specified  age. 

These  considerations  have  an  especial  bearing  on  the 
effort  to  establish  the  relative  tendency  toward  depend- 
ence of  the  different  immigrating  races.  As  one  runs 
over  tables  of  dependence  or  pauperism,  arranged  by 
nationahty,  he  is  impressed  by  the  immense  preponder- 
ance of  the  Germans  and  Irish  among  those  hsted.  His 
first  conclusion  is  hkely  to  be  that  the  popular  idea  of  the 
greater  desirabihty  of  these  races  over  the  newer  im- 
migrants is  an  error ;  but  as  soon  as  he  recalls  how  much 
longer  these  races  have  been  in  this  country,  on  the  aver- 
age, than  the  southeastern  Europeans,  he  realizes  that 
these  tables,  taken  by  themselves,  are  wholly  unreliable 

'  Abstract  of  Thirteenth  Census,  pp.  215,  218. 


320 


IMMIGRATION 


as   indicating    relative    tendencies    among   races.     The 
following  table  will  serve  as  an  illustration : 

PER    CENT  OF    FOREIGN-BORN    PAUPERS  IN    ALMS- 
HOUSES BY   COUNTRY  OF  BIRTH  i 


Country  of  Birth 

Enumerated, 
1903 

Aduiiued,  1904 

Per  CEhfT  OF 
Total  Foreign- 
born  Pop. 

Ireland 

Germany 

England  and  Wales    .     . 

Canada    

Scandinavia       .... 

Scotland 

Italy 

France      

Hungary  and  Bohemia   . 
Russia  and  Poland     .     . 
Other  countries      .     .     . 

46.4 
23.3 
8.7 
4.8 
4.9 
2-5 

I.o 

1.4 

I.o 

1-5 
4.5 

41.2 
18.4 

8.8 

6.5 
4.9 

2.6 
3.1 
1-3 
i-S 
3-4 
8.3 

15-6 

25.8 

9.0 

11.4 

10.3 

2.3 

4-7 

1.0 

2.9 

7.8 
9.2 

lOO.O 

lOO.O 

100. 0 

Taking  these  figures  as  they  stand,  we  may  say  roughly 
that  the  Irish  have  thirty  times  as  many  paupers  as 
those  born  in  Russia  and  Poland,  and  forty-six  times  as 
many  as  the  natives  of  Italy  or  Hungary  and  Bohemia, 
and  twice  as  many  as  the  Germans.  But  this  evidently 
does  not  represent  the  relative  tendencies  to  pauperism 
of  these  races.  The  first  correction  to  be  made  is  in 
regard  to  the  relative  numbers  of  each  group  in  the  total 
population.  The  Irish  have  3.3  times  as  large  a  total 
population  as  the  Italians,  which  reduces  the  ratio  of 
relative  tendency  to  pauperism  down  to  about  fourteen 
to  one.  By  a  similar  reckoning  we  find  that  the  Germans 
manifest  only  about  one  third  the  tendency  to  pauperism 

1  Paupers  in  Almshouses,  pp.  19,  20. 


CONDITIONS   AFFECTING   THE   COUNTRY    321 

that  the  Irish  do,  but  4.2  times  as  great  as  the  Italians. 
But  before  even  approximately  accurate  figures  for  the 
relative  tendencies  of  these  races  can  be  secured,  a  further 
correction  must  be  made  for  the  relative  average  length 
of  residence  of  the  different  groups.  This  unfortunately 
cannot  be  done  in  the  present  state  of  our  information. 

The  figures  in  the  preceding  paragraph  are  of  course 
merely  the  rudest  approximations,  but  they  serve  to 
convey  an  idea  of  the  extreme  complexity  of  the  problem 
of  determining  relative  tendencies  toward  pauperism, 
and  illustrate  the  utter  worthlessness  of  the  ordinary 
hit-and-miss  comparisons  which  are  made. 

The  Immigration  Commission  also  made  a  study  of  the 
patients  admitted  to  Bcllevue  and  AlUed  Hospitals  for  the 
seven  months  period  August  i,  1908,  to  February  28, 1909. 
The  total  number  of  charity  patients  or  cases  was  23,758. 
Of  these  18.5  per  cent  were  native-born  of  native  father 
(2.5  per  cent  negro),  28.5  per  cent  native-born  of  foreign 
father,  and  52.3  per  cent  foreign-born.  The  Irish  foreign- 
born  are  far  in  the  lead,  having  approximately  one  fifth 
of  all  the  cases  treated.  If  we  add  the  Irish  native-born 
of  foreign  father,  we  have  over  one  third  of  the  total. 

In  regard  to  the  length  of  residence  in  the  United 
States,  the  two  danger  periods  noted  above  are  weU 
marked,  as  the  following  figures  show : 

PER  CENT  OF  FOREIGN-BORN  PATIENTS  ACCORDING 
TO  LENGTH  OF  RESIDENCE  IN  THE  UNITED 
STATES 


Per  cent 


Under 
S  Years 

S  TO  9 

10  TO  14 

IS  TO  19 

28.0 

14.2 

8.9 

10.8 

20  OR  Over 


38.1 


322  IMMIGRATION 

The  same  distinction  appears  here  between  the  old  and 
new  immigrants  that  we  should  expect  —  a  high  per- 
centage for  the  old  immigrants  in  the  group  over  twenty, 
and  a  high  percentage  for  the  new  immigrants  in  the 
group  under  five. 

Whether  the  newer  races,  as  their  average  length  of 
residence  in  this  country  increases,  will  approach  the 
degree  of  pauperism  of  the  Irish  and  Germans,  time  alone 
can  tell.  The  strictness  of  the  tests  of  admission  to  the 
United  States  has  steadily  increased,  and  this  has  had 
the  effect  of  giving  the  later  immigrants  a  better  showing, 
as  a  body,  than  the  earlier  ones.  It  is  not  impossible 
that  time  will  prove  that  thrift  and  foresight  are  more 
distinguishing  features  of  the  southern  races  than  of  the 
northern,  purchased  though  they  are  at  the  cost  of  a 
very  low  standard  of  living.  A  large  amount  of  relief  is 
undoubtedly  sought  by  members  of  the  newer  races  of 
immigrants.  Among  the  Charity  Organization  cases 
studied  by  the  Immigration  Commission,  14.2  per  cent 
of  the  Russian  foreign-born  heads  of  cases  had  been  in  the 
United  States  less  than  one  year,  and  the  following  per- 
centages of  foreign-born  heads  of  cases  had  been  in  the 
United  States  less  than  five  years:  Magyar,  44.1  per 
cent;  Russian,  38.7  per  cent;  Italian,  south,  26.6 
per  cent;  Syrian,  25.8  per  cent;  Italian,  north,  25.6  per 
cent.  The  races  having  the  largest  percentages  of 
foreign-born  heads  of  cases  residing  in  the  United  States 
twenty  years  or  over  were  :  Irish,  71.3  per  cent;  Welsh, 
70.4  per  cent;  French,  62.9  per  cent;  German,  62.8  per 
cent ;   Canadian,  French,  58.5  per  cent. 

The  Hebrews  exhibit  a  large  amount  of  dependence, 
but  as  they  are  almost  wholly  looked  after  by  their  own 
race  they  seldom  appear  in  large  numbers  in  the  public 


CONDITIONS  AFFECTING  THE   COUNTRY    323 

reports.  The  United  Hebrew  Charities  of  New  York, 
in  the  year  1904,  received  10,334  appHcations  at  their 
relief  bureau,  representing  43,938  individuals,  and  ex- 
pended for  relief  alone  $124,694.45.  In  191 2  the  number 
of  applications  had  fallen  to  7140,  representing  31,835 
individuals,  but  the  expenditure  for  relief  had  risen  to 
$254,188.71.  This  indicates,  as  the  report  points  out, 
that  the  present  applicants  are  in  need  of  permanent 
rehef  to  a  much  greater  extent  than  those  of  a  dec- 
ade ago.  The  report  of  the  same  organization  for 
October  i,  1901,  gives  the  estimate  that  from  75,000 
to  100,000  Jews  in  New  York  alone  are  not  self- 
supporting. 

There  can  be  but  one  conclusion  from  the  foregoing 
discussion,  namely,  that  our  foreign-born  residents  add 
to  the  burden  of  pubhc  and  private  rehef  an  amount 
largely  out  of  proportion  to  their  relative  numbers  in  the 
general  population,  and  that  this  burden  is  hkely  to  be  an 
increasing  one.  Mr.  Prescott  F.  Hall  pubhshes  an  esti- 
mate that  the  total  annual  cost  of  caring  for  the  foreign- 
born  poor  of  New  York  State  alone  equals  $12,000,000.^ 
It  is  worth  noting  that  while  the  expense  of  this  burden 
of  reUef  is  borne  by  the  pubhc  and  by  benevolent  indi- 
viduals, the  real  benefit  goes  to  the  employer  of  cheap 
labor.  He  secures  his  labor  at  a  wage  which  will  barely 
maintain  its  efficiency  for  a  period  of  years,  without  any 
provision  for  the  future,  and  when  that  period  is  over, 
and  the  laborer  is  no  longer  an  efficient  producer,  he  is 
cast  aside  with  absolutely  no  responsibihty  resting  on 
the  employer  for  his  future  support  or  care.^     At  the 

'  Immigration,  p.  i68. 

» .Mr.  Strcightoff  points  out  that  even  in  a  year  of  prosperity  about  half  of  the 
laborinR  families  arc  not  able  to  save  anything,  even  on  the  close  marKin  of  livinK 
which  they  maintain.     Standard  of  Living,  pp.  24,  25. 


324  IMMIGRATION 

customary  rate  of  wages  there  seem  to  be  but  two  al- 
ternatives open  to  the  workingman's  family  —  either  to 
live  on  a  frightfully  low  standard,  and  make  some  slight 
provision  for  the  future,  or  to  hve  on  a  somewhat  higher 
standard  and  run  the  risk  of  dependence  in  old  age  or 
misfortune.^  It  is  obvious  that  both  of  these  are  un- 
quahfiedly  bad. 

As  to  the  causes  of  this  abnormal  amount  of  pauperism 
Miss  K.  H.  Claghorn  makes  the  following  statement : 
"While  it  is  plain  enough  that  foreign  immigration  has 
some  connection  with  the  problem  of  pauperism  since 
common  observation  and  all  the  statistics  available  unite 
in  showing  that  the  majority  of  the  recipients  of  our 
charity,  public  and  private,  are  of  foreign  birth,  it  is 
equally  certain  on  the  other  hand  that  pauperism  is  not 
something  that  the  immigrant  brings  with  him,  but  is  the 
result  of  a  considerable  period  of  life  and  experiences 
here."  ^  This  opinion,  coming  from  so  high  a  source, 
emphasizes  two  facts  —  first,  that  it  is  not  altogether,  if 
at  all,  the  immigrant's  "fault"  that  there  is  so  much 
pauperism  among  this  class.  Those  who  have  been  pau- 
pers before,  or  seem  likely  to  become  so,  are  refused  ad- 
mission. Second,  that  there  is  something  radically 
wrong  in  the  industrial  adjustment  of  the  United  States 
when  so  large  a  number  of  foreigners,  who  come  here 
primarily  for  motives  of  financial  betterment,  and  who 
are  not  by  nature  thriftless,  are  unable  during  a  long  pe- 
riod of  faithful  labor  to  lay  up  anything  against  the  period 
of  helplessness.  We  cannot  escape  the  accusing  finger 
which  points  toward  the  United  States,  demanding  rec- 

'  Cf.  Byington,  M.  F.,  IJomestead,  p.  184. 

2  Claghorn,  K.  H.,  "  ImmiKration  in  its  Relation  to  Pauperism,"  Annals  of  the 
American  Academy  of  Political  Science,  24  :  187. 


CONDITIONS   AFFECTING  THE   COUNTRY    325 

ognition  of  the  fact  that  we  are  by  no  means  prepared 
to  accept  the  tremendous  responsibility  of  admitting 
unlimited  numbers  of  aliens  whose  entire  future  destiny 
depends  upon  the  soundness  of  our  political,  social,  and 
economic  fabric. 

It  may  be  worth  while  to  note  some  of  the  general 
causes  which  lead  to  pauperism  among  the  foreign-born, 
(i)  Lack  of  intelligence.  This  is  sometimes  represented 
by  figures  of  iUiteracy.  This  is  hardly  a  fair  basis  of  judg- 
ment, however,  as  illiteracy  may  be  often  the  result  of 
poor  opportunity,  rather  than  of  low  intelhgence.  Never- 
theless it  is  true  that  the  average  immigrant  of  the  pres- 
ent generation  is  probably  inferior  to  the  average  native 
workingman,  and  hence  is  handicapped  in  the  competition 
with  him.  (2)  Lack  of  industrial  training.  Most  of  the 
immigrants  have  had  no  training  in  their  home  countries 
to  fit  them  for  higher  industrial  pursuits,  and  many  of 
those  who  have,  find  that  it  is  not  adapted  to  American 
conditions.  (3)  Lack  of  foresight.  This  must  not  be 
generally  asserted  of  the  immigrant  class,  for  undoubt- 
edly a  large  proportion  of  them  are  well  equipped  with  an 
appreciation  of  the  future.  Yet  in  many  cases,  the  ease 
with  which  a  comparatively  comfortable  living  may  be 
secured  in  the  first  years  of  residence,  and  the  apparently 
inexhaustible  riches  of  the  United  States,  combine  to 
make  the  ahen  neglectful  of  a  future  period  of  dearth. 
(4)  Large  families.  The  birth  rate  of  the  foreign-born  is 
a  high  one,  and  a  large  number  of  young  children  is  al- 
ways a  predisposing  cause  of  pauperism  in  a  struggling 
family.  In  this  connection  some  significant  figures  arc 
furnished  by  the  invest  gation  of  the  charity  organiza- 
tion cases,  made  by  the  Immigration  Commission,  and 
already    referred    to.      Of    all    the     foreign-born     male 


326  IMMIGRATION 

persons,  aided  by  these  societies,  who  were  twenty 
years  of  age  or  over,  81.5  per  cent  were  married,  5  per 
cent  deserted,  separated,  or  widowed,  and  only  13.5  per 
cent  single.  Of  the  females,  62.3  per  cent  were  married, 
33.9  per  cent  deserted,  separated,  or  widowed,  and  only 
3.8  per  cent  single.  When  we  remember  how  much  the 
single  men  outnumber  the  married  men  in  the  general 
population  of  the  foreign-born  above  twenty  years  of  age, 
we  see  that  if  the  time  ever  comes  when  immigration 
becomes  more  of  a  family  matter  than  at  present  —  in 
many  ways  a  condition  much  to  be  desired  —  it  must 
inevitably  bring  with  it  a  tremendous  increase  in  the 
amount  of  foreign-born  pauperism.  (5)  Money  sent 
home.  If  the  situation  of  the  immigrant  was  such  that 
these  large  sums  could  be  retained  in  this  country,  as  a 
reserve  fund  against  future  want,  his  liability  to  pauper- 
ism would  be  much  diminished.  This,  of  course,  can- 
not be  expected,  since  much  of  this  money  is  sent  back 
to  meet  obligations  which  no  one  would  wish  the  immi- 
grant to  evade.  In  cases  where  it  is  sent  back  to  support 
a  family,  it  is  doubtless  a  more  economical  arrangement 
than  if  the  wife  and  children  were  maintained  in  the 
United  States.  (6)  Low  wages,  and  the  maladjustment 
between  the  supply  of  labor  and  the  demand.  Enough 
has  already  been  said  to  establish  this  as  a  fundamental 
condition,  and  it  is  the  proximate  cause  of  pauperism 
in  the  majority  of  cases.  The  attempt  to  analyze  and 
classify  the  causes  of  pauperism  is  unsatisfactory  at 
best ;  yet  a  certain  amount  of  light  may  be  shed  on  the 
subject  in  this  way  if  carefully  done.  The  Immigration 
Commission's  Report  on  Immigrants  as  Charity  Seekers 
assigns  the  cases  studied  to  certain  general  causes  in  the 
following  proportions : 


CONDITIONS    AFFECTING  THE    COUNTRY     327 

PERCENTAGE    OF    THE    TOTAL    NUMBER    OF    CASES 
ASSIGNABLE  TO  THE   SPECIFIED   CAUSES 

Cause  Per  Cent 

Lack  of  emplo>Tnent  or  insufficient  earnings 59.0 

Death  or  disability  of  breadwinner 28.7 

Death  or  disability  of  another 18.9 

Neglect  or  bad  habits  of  breadwinner 18.7 

Old  age 6.2 

Other  causes 10. o^ 

There  is  no  great  difference  in  the  proportions  of  the 
different  causes  in  the  different  general  groups.  It  may 
be  significant  to  note  that  the  per  cent  of  cases  due  to  the 
neglect  or  bad  habits  of  the  breadwinner  is  a  little  larger 
for  the  native-born  white  of  native  father  than  for  the 
foreign-born,  and  larger  for  the  native-born  white  of 
foreign  father  than  for  either.  If  we  take  persons  instead 
of  cases,  the  showing  of  the  native-born  of  foreign  father 
is  even  worse.  The  relatively  small  number  of  cases  due 
to  this  cause  —  the  only  one  which  may  be  charged 
directly  to  the  "fault"  of  the  breadwinner  —  indicates 
that  the  difficulty  lies  rather  with  the  industrial  system 
of  the  United  States  than  with  the  culpabihty  of  the 
individual. 

That  assimilation,  in  so  far  as  it  is  represented  by 
ability  to  speak  English,  will  not  remedy  the  situation 
is  indicated  by  some  suggestive  figures  given  in  the  re- 
port on  Charity  Seekers  above  quoted.  It  is  shown 
(p.  70)  that  of  the  total  number  of  persons  assisted,  six 
years  of  age  or  over,  belonging  to  non-English  speaking 
races,  76.3  per  cent  were  able  to  speak  English.  Now 
in  the  report  on  Manufactures  and  Mining  it  appears 

'  The  total  of  per  cents  adds  up  to  more  than  loo  as  more  than  one  cause  is 
often  reported  for  the  same  case. 


328  IMMIGRATION 

that  only  53.2  per  cent  of  the  foreign-born  employees 
studied,  belonging  to  non-English  speaking  races,  could 
speak  English.  That  is,  the  percentage  of  dependents, 
who  are  so  far  "assimilated"  as  to  be  able  to  speak  Eng- 
lish, is  much  greater  than  the  percentage  of  those  who  are 
at  work,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  former  class  includes 
younger  children  than  the  latter.  This  harmonizes  with 
the  fact  already  demonstrated,  that  dependent  foreign- 
ers have  been  in  this  country  much  longer  than  the  aver- 
age of  their  group.  It  also  lends  color  to  the  suggestion 
made  by  a  charity  worker,  that  one  reason  why  the  newer 
immigrants  do  not  appear  in  larger  numbers  on  the 
books  of  philanthropic  organizations  is  that  they  are 
not  yet  "on  to  the  ropes,"  and  that  as  they  become 
familiarized  with  American  methods,  they  will  seek 
relief  in  increasing  numbers. 

The  subject  of  crime  is  customarily  linked  with  that  of 
pauperism  in  the  discussions  of  immigration,  and  the 
same  claim  is  frequently  made,  viz.  that  immigration  has 
increased  the  amount  of  crime  in  this  country.  The 
attempts  at  proof  of  this  assertion  generally  follow  the 
same  method  adopted  in  the  case  of  pauperism,  that  is, 
they  consist  in  an  examination  of  the  relative  tendency 
toward  criminality  of  the  general  groups  of  native-born 
and  foreign-born.  In  other  words,  the  line  of  argument 
is,  if  the  foreign-born  manifest  a  larger  proportion  of 
criminals  among  their  number  than  do  the  native-born, 
all  increases  in  the  foreign-born  population  will  mean  a 
more  than  proportional  increase  in  crime  for  the  country 
as  a  whole.  There  is,  however,  another  way  in  which 
immigration  might  operate  to  increase  crime.  That  is, 
by  interfering  with  the  natural  adjustment  of  economic 
relations  between  different  classes,  it  may  so  alter  the 


CONDITIONS   AFFECTING   THE   COUNTRY    329 

condition  of  the  native-born  as  to  lead  to  an  increase  in 
crime  in  this  class.  For  instance,  it  has  been  claimed  that 
a  large  proportion  of  the  "hobo"  class  (who  are,  to  be 
sure,  not  necessarily  criminal)  are  native  Americans  who 
have  been  forced  out  of  employment  by  foreign  com- 
petition. In  a  similar  way,  other  individuals  may  have 
been  driven  into  active  crime.  This  proposition,  what- 
ever the  incidental  evidence  for  or  against  it,  is  man- 
ifestly incapable  of  statistical  proof,  and  for  any  semi- 
mathematical  demonstration  we  must  rely  on  the  other 
method  of  approach. 

In  the  matter  of  crime  the  effort  to  make  generaHza- 
tions  is  complicated  by  the  fact  that  it  is  necessary  to  take 
into  account,  not  only  the  number  of  crimes,  but  the 
nature  and  severity  of  the  criminal  act.  Tests  of  crimi- 
nality, to  be  accurate,  should  include  quality  as  well  as 
quantity.  This  is  obviously  very  difficult  to  do.  We 
are  accustomed  in  everyday  phraseology  to  speak  of  one 
crime  as  being  worse  than  another.  Presumably  crimes 
against  the  person  are  more  serious  than  crimes  against 
property.  In  the  case  of  crimes  against  property,  we 
might  naturally  consider  it  "worse"  to  steal  $1000  than 
$5,  but  it  would  not  necessarily  be  so. 

These  conditions  frequently  result  in  an  injustice 
to  the  immigrant.  The  police  and  court  records  of  our 
great  cities  show  an  amazing  proportion  of  crimes  charge- 
able to  the  foreign  population.  For  instance,  out  of 
71,253  persons  held  for  trial  or  summarily  tried  and 
convicted  in  the  Magistrates'  Courts  of  New  York  City 
in  1907,  only  30,261,  or  considerably  less  than  half,  were 
born  in  the  United  States.  But  when  these  records  are 
studied  more  closely  it  becomes  apparent  that  a  large 
share  of  the  offenses  of  the  foreign-born  are  violations  of 


33^ 


IMMIGRATION 


the  city  ordinances,  —  offenses  which  are  comparatively 
trivial  in  themselves  do  not  indicate  any  special  tendency 
toward  criminality,  and  are  in  many  cases  intimately 
associated  with  a  low  station  in  hfe.  The  moral  charac- 
ter of  ahen  groups  may  in  this  way  be  seriously  mis- 
represented. 

Nevertheless,  if  comparisons  are  to  be  made  at  all, 
they  must  rest  upon  such  records  as  these,  and  such 
allowances  as  are  possible  be  made  afterwards.  Figures 
of  this  kind  are  available  in  the  pubUcations  of  the  Census 
Bureau,  the  Commissioner  General  of  Immigration,  and 
the  Immigration  Commission.  In  the  census  report  on 
Prisoners  we  find  that  of  the  prisoners  enumerated  in  the 
United  States  on  June  30,  1904,  76.83  per  cent  were 
native-born,  and  23.7  per  cent  foreign-born.  In  the 
general  white  population,  ten  years  of  age  or  over,  in 
1900,  80.5  per  cent  were  native-born  and  19.5  per  cent 
foreign-born.  If  a  due  allowance  is  made  for  a  dis- 
proportionate growth  of  the  foreign-born  population 
between  1900  and  1904,  the  relative  proportions  of  pris- 
oners among  the  two  groups  would  be  approximately 
equal.  Of  the  white  prisoners  of  known  nativity  com- 
mitted during  1904  the  percentages  were  as  follows: 


Nativity 

Total 

Major  Offenders 

Minor  Offenders 

Native-born  . 
Foreign-born. 

71.2  per  cent 
28.8  per  cent 

78.3  per  cent 
21.7  per  cent 

69. Q  per  cent 
30.1  per  cent 

The  somewhat  less  favorable  showing  made  by  the  foreign- 
born  in  the  case  of  those  committed  than  of  those  enumer- 
ated, is  accounted  for  by  the  large  proportion  of  minor 
ofifenses  among  the  foreign-born.     Many  minor  offenders, 


CONDITIONS   AFFECTING  THE   COUNTRY    331 

serving  short  sentences,  would  not  be  included  at  all  in 
the  enumeration.  Over  half  the  major  offenders  among 
the  foreign-born  had  been  in  the  United  States  ten  years 
or  more,  and  about  two  thirds  of  the  minor  offenders. 
According  to  the  Report  of  the  Commissioner  General 
of  Immigration  for  1908  (p.  98),  there  were  in  the  penal 
institutions  of  the  United  States,  including  Alaska, 
Hawaii,  and  Porto  Rico  (in  which  the  figures  are  not 
large  enough  to  affect  the  conclusions  materially),  in 
1908,  149,897  inmates,  of  whom  15,323  were  ahens, 
8102  naturalized,  and  126,562  native-born.  Thus  the 
percentage  of  native-born  was  84.4  and  of  foreign-born 

15-6. 

The  Immigration  Commission  made  a  careful  study 
of  the  matter  of  crime  among  the  immigrants,  reviewing 
the  foregoing  data,  and  collecting  some  original  data  of 
its  own,  covering  2206  convictions  in  the  New  York  City 
Court  of  General  Sessions  from  October  i,  1908,  to  June 
30,1909.  This  is,  so  far  as  known  to  the  Commission, 
the  first  time  that  any  court  in  the  United  States  had 
made  a  record  of  the  race  of  persons  convicted  in  it. 
This  fact  illustrates  the  utter  inadequacy  of  the  data  for 
making  any  deductions  as  to  the  influence  of  immigra- 
tion upon  crime  in  the  United  States.  Not  only  courts, 
but  police  departments  and  penal  institutions,  are  very 
lax  in  their  keeping  of  records  in  this  respect. 

In  response  to  the  questions,  "Is  the  volume  of  crime 
in  the  United  States  augmented  by  the  presence  among  us 
of  the  immigrant  and  his  offspring?"  and  "If  immigra- 
tion increases  crime,  what  races  are  responsible  for  such 
increase?"  the  Commission  says  that  no  satisfactory 
answer  has  ever  been  made,  or  can  ever  be  made,  without 
much  more  complete  data  than  have  ever  been  collected 


332  IMMIGRATION 

or  are  available.  Certain  general  conclusions,  however, 
have  been  reached  by  the  Commission,  which  harmonize 
with  those  reached  by  other  students,  and  are  worthy 
of  acceptance  as  far  as  they  go.  First,  "No  satisfactory 
evidence  has  yet  been  produced  to  show  that  immigra- 
tion has  resulted  in  an  increase  in  crime  disproportionate 
to  the  increase  in  adult  population.  Such  comparable 
statistics  of  crime  and  population  as  it  has  been  possible 
to  obtain  indicate  that  the  immigrants  are  less  prone  to 
commit  crime  than  are  native  Americans."  ^  Second, 
"Immigration  has,  however,  made  changes  in  the  char- 
acter of  crime  in  the  United  States." "  These  changes 
have  been  in  the  direction  of  an  increase  in  offenses  of 
personal  violence,  and  offenses  against  public  policy 
(disorderly  conduct,  drunkenness,  violation  of  corpora- 
tion ordinances,  etc.),  some  of  which  are  incident  to  city 
life,  and  probably  in  offenses  against  chastity.  There 
does  not  appear  to  have  been  any  increase  in  the  majority 
of  offenses  against  property,  or,  as  they  may  be  better 
called,  gainful  offenses.^ 

Comparing  the  different  races  as  regards  criminality, 
it  appears  that  the  Irish  stand  at  the  head  as  regards  the 
total  number  of  offenses  and  the  Germans  next.  In 
respect  to  major  offenses,  however,  the  Germans  stand 
first,  while  the  Irish  again  take  first  place  in  the  minor 
offenses.'*  The  Germans  are  much  addicted  to  crimes 
against  property,  the  Irish  and  Scotch  to  drunkenness, 
Greeks  and  natives  of  Russia  to  violations  of  corporation 
ordinances,  and  immigrants  from  France,  Russia,  Poland, 
and  Canada  to  crimes  against  chastity.     The  Italians 

*  Rcpt.  Imm.  Com.,  Immigration  and  Crime,  Abs.,  p.  7.         '  Ibid.,  p.  8. 

'  Cf.  llourwich,  I.  A.,  "Immigration  and  Crime,"  Am.  Jour.  Soc,  17:41 
p.  478. 

*  Census  Report  on  Prisoners,  1904,  pp.  42,  45. 


CONDITIONS   AFFECTING  THE   COUNTRY    337, 

are  preeminent  in  crimes  of  violence  or  crimes  against 
the  person.^ 

It  is  even  more  difficult  to  postulate  the  causes  of 
crime  than  of  pauperism.  Until  the  criminologists  have 
furnished  us  with  a  more  efficient  means  of  determining 
the  causes  of  crime  in  general,  there  can  be  no  profit  in  the 
attempt  to  classify  the  causes  of  crime  among  a  particular 
group  of  the  population.  In  respect  to  the  nature  of 
crime  committed  by  different  races,  there  seems  to  be 
something  in  the  racial  character  of  some  of  our  immi- 
grants which  predisposes  them  in  a  certain  direction,  as 
exempHfied  in  the  preceding  paragraph.  There  is  also 
evidence  that  among  some  of  the  newer  immigrants, 
crime  is  largely  a  matter  of  economic  position.  This  is 
well  illustrated  by  the  case  of  the  Greeks.  Among  the 
members  of  this  very  recent  immigrant  group,  there  has 
been  a  noteworthy  decline  in  the  average  of  criminality 
within  the  last  few  years,  and  the  explanation  appears  to 
be  that  the  crimes  of  the  Greeks  are  such  as  correspond 
with  a  low  economic  situation  —  violations  of  corpora- 
tion ordinances,  of  the  sanitary  code,  etc.  As  a  larger 
and  larger  proportion  of  the  individuals  of  this  nation- 
ality rise  above  this  lowly  estate,  the  percentage  of  crime 
among  them  falls  off  correspondingly.^  This  empha- 
sizes once  more  the  responsibility  of  the  United  States 
for  some  of  the  evil  conditions  for  which  we  habitually 
blame  the  immigrants. 

There  are  two  particular  forms  of  crime  which  are 
closely  associated  with  foreign  groups  in  the  United 
States.     These   are  the  Black  Hand  outrages  and  the 

^  Ibid.  Cf.  also  Binpham,  T.  A.,  "ForeiRn  Criminals  in  New  York,"  No. 
Am.  Rev.,  September,  iqo8,  p.  381;  Rept.  Imm.  Com.,  Imm.  and  Crime, 
Abs. ;  Americans  in  Process,  pp.  igQ-207  ;  The  City  Wilderness,  p.  172. 

'  Fairchild,  H.  P.,  Greek  Immigration  to  the  United  States,  p.  -'Oj. 


334  IMMIGRATION 

white  slave  traffic.  The  former  of  these  is  confined 
ahnost  wholly  to  persons  of  the  ItaUan  race.  In  some  of 
its  features  it  recalls  the  Molly  Maguire  occurrences  of  a 
generation  earlier.  In  fact,  the  resemblance  between  the 
Irish  societies  and  the  Mafia  of  southern  Italy  was  noted 
in  a  contemporary  magazine  article  at  the  time  of  the 
disturbances  in  the  anthracite  region  of  Pennsylvania.^ 
In  both  cases  no  organic  connection  between  the  societies 
in  the  new  world  and  the  old  is  manifest.  In  fact,  the 
best  judgment  in  regard  to  the  Black  Hand  appears  to 
be  that  there  is  no  real  organization  in  existence  in  Amer- 
ica, but  that  individuals  of  Italian  race  use  the  power  of 
the  dreaded  name  to  accomphsh  their  own  ends.  Like 
the  Molly  Maguires,  the  Black  Hand  operators  utilize 
warning  letters,  but  they  differ  from  them  in  that  their 
purpose  is  often,  if  not  usually,  blackmail,  which  was 
seldom  the  case  with  the  Irish  society. 

The  white  slave  traffic  has  aroused  tremendous  public 
interest  during  the  last  few  years,  and  has  been  thoroughly 
exploited  in  the  daily  and  periodical  press.  Only  the 
essential  features,  particularly  in  their  bearing  on  immi- 
gration, need  to  be  reviewed  in  the  present  connection. 
Not  all  of  the  girls  concerned  in  this  business  are  immi- 
grants, nor  are  all  the  persons  who  draw  a  revenue  from 
it  foreigners;  yet  the  various  investigations  of  the  sub- 
ject have  demonstrated  that  the  whole  trade  is  funda- 
mentally an  affair  of  our  foreign  population. 

One  surprising  thing  about  this  traffic  is  that  essentially 
it  is  an  economic  phenomenon.  It  is  not  a  perverted 
sex  passion  which  demands  the  perpetuation  of  the  in- 
human system ;  it  is  the  desire  for  large  and  easy  profits, 
and  the  life  of  indolence  that  goes  with  them,  which 

1  "  Molly  Maguire  in  America,"  All  the  Year  Round,  New  Series,  17 :  270. 


CONDITIONS   AFFECTING  THE   COUNTRY    335 

actuates  the  promoters  of  the  traffic,  while  on  the  part  of 
the  aUen  women  it  is  frequently  the  desire  for  larger 
earnings  which  brings  them  to  our  shores.  The  demand 
has  to  be  stimulated. 

There  are  two  classes  of  these  aUen  girls  who  are  brought 
over.  One  consists  of  innocent  girls  who  are  brought 
over  under  a  false  understanding.  The  incentive  is 
usually  a  false  promise  of  employment  or  of  marriage. 
Sometimes  false  marriages,  and  occasionally  actual 
marriages,  are  resorted  to.  With  this  class  of  subjects, 
the  male  importer  is  naturally  the  most  successful.  All 
kinds  of  inducements  are  offered  by  the  procurer,  in- 
cluding an  apparently  sincere  love-making.  About  the 
only  inducements  which  female  importers  can  offer 
to  such  girls  are  easier  or  more  lucrative  employment. 
The  other  class,  probably  constituting  a  large  majority, 
are  women  who  have  already  been  leading  an  immoral 
life  on  the  other  side,  and  come  in  the  hope  of  bettering 
their  prospects,  although  they  recognize  the  power  of  the 
importer. 

These  women  and  girls  are  usually  brought  over  second 
class,  and  every  conceivable  artifice  is  employed  to  de- 
ceive the  inspectors.  When  a  girl  has  been  safely  intro- 
duced into  the  country,  she  is  completely  in  the  power 
of  the  man  who  controls  her.  The  supposition  is  that 
the  man  furnishes  protection  and  care  to  the  girl  in 
return  for  her  earnings.  She  is  sometimes  kept  in  a  dis- 
orderly house,  sometimes  in  a  hotel  or  other  resort,  but 
always  where  the  man  can  keep  control  of  her.  She  is 
thoroughly  frightened,  and  every  device  is  employed  to 
keep  her  from  communicating  with  any  outside  sources 
of  reUef,  or  escaping.  She  is  often  deprived  of  street 
clothing,  so  as  to  make  escape  impossible.     She  is  kept 


336  IMMIGRATION 

heavily  in  debt,  so  that  there  may  be  a  legal  claim  over 
her.  Only  a  very  small  part  of  her  earnings  is  given 
to  her,  and  she  is  charged  outrageous  prices  for  all  the 
suppHes  which  arc  furnished  her.  Her  life  is  one  of 
hopeless  and  terrible  degradation,  and  she  has  nothing 
to  look  forward  to  except  a  wretched  and  continually 
descending  existence,  and  an  early  death. 

AHen  women  are  particularly  desirable  to  the  pro- 
moters of  this  traffic  because  their  lack  of  connections  in 
this  country,  and  their  ignorance  of  the  language  and 
customs  of  the  country  make  it  more  difficult  for  them 
to  escape  or  to  make  trouble  for  their  men  than  in  the 
case  of  native  girls.  In  addition  to  the  terrible  wrongs 
wrought  upon  the  women  themselves,  this  practice  has 
resulted  in  an  increase  in  the  number  of  prostitutes  in 
the  United  States,  in  the  introduction  and  dissemination 
of  dangerous  diseases,  and  in  the  introduction  of  various 
forms  of  unnatural  vice,  more  degrading  and  terrible 
than  even  prostitution  itself  in  its  ordinary  form. 

The  great  majority  of  the  alien  women  found  by  the 
Immigration  Commission  engaged  in  these  pursuits,  as 
well  as  the  men  who  prosecute  the  traffic,  are  French  and 
Hebrews.  Belgians  are  largely  engaged  in  it,  according 
to  Commissioner  Bingham.  Germans  are  numerous,  and 
there  are  a  few  Irish  and  Itahans,  with  of  course  a  scat- 
tering of  individuals  of  other  races. 

A  number  of  these  women  are  detected  at  the  port  of 
entry  and  returned,  and  a  good  many  are  deported. 
But  it  is  a  practice  very  difficult  of  detection,  and  it  is 
not  easy  to  get  at  the  facts  in  regard  to  its  extent  in  this 
country.  It  is  certain  that  the  class  of  abandoned 
women  in  this  country  is  largely  recruited  in  this  way. 
Commissioner  Bingham  estimated  in   1908  that  there 


CONDITIONS   AFFECTING  THE   COUNTRY    337 

were  more  than  100,000  such  women  on  the  Pacific  coast 
and  in  Mexico,  who  had  come  in  through  New  York. 

No  evidence  has  been  found  to  justify  the  suspicion 
that  there  was  an  organization  controlUng  this  traffic  in 
this  country.  But  those  engaged  in  the  trade  naturally 
are  acquainted  with  each  other,  and  are  always  ready  to 
help  each  other  against  a  common  enemy.  They  have 
various  meeting  places  where  they  get  together  for  gam- 
bling, conference,  and  divers  forms  of  recreation. 

It  has  been  proven  that  this  traffic  is  slavery  in  more 
than  name,  as  girls  are  sometimes  sold  directly  by  one 
person  to  another.  The  new  federal  law  is  designed  to 
put  a  check  to  all  practices  of  this  sort,  by  making  it 
illegal  to  transport  women  or  girls  from  one  state  to  an- 
other for  immoral  purposes.  The  efforts  of  the  Immigra- 
tion Commission  and  other  governmental  agencies  within 
the  last  two  or  three  years  have  accomplished  a  good 
deal  in  breaking  up  some  of  the  resorts,  and  deporting  or 
imprisoning  the  culprits.  But  while  the  traffic  has  re- 
ceived a  serious  setback,  it  is  by  no  means  killed.  This 
is  emphatically  one  of  the  things  where  eternal  vigilance 
is  the  price  of  safety.  Nothing  short  of  a  sweeping 
change  in  public  opinion  and  practice  will  ever  put  it 
out  of  the  way  beyond  the  possibility  of  resurrection.^ 

In  respect  to  juvenile  dehnquency  the  most  unenviable 
place  is  held  by  the  native-born  children  of  immigrants. 
They  not  only  manifest  two  or  three  times  as  great  a 
tendency  toward  crime  as  the  native-born  children  of 
native  parents,  but  they  are  much  more  criminal  than 
foreign-born  children.     Of  the  juvenile  delinquents  com- 

•  Cf.  BinKham,  T.  A.,  The  Girl  thai  Disappears,  and  "Foreign  Criminals  in 
New  York,"  A'o.  Am.  Rev.,  September,  iqo8;  ami  Rcpt.  Imm.  Com.,  Importing 
Women  for  Immoral  Purposes;  New  York  Times,  Jan.  17,  191 2,  p.  i. 

Z 


338  IMMIGRATION 

mitted  during  1904,  according  to  the  census  report, 
76.7  per  cent  were  native  white.  This  percentage  was 
made  up  as  follows:  native  parentage,  37.6  per  cent; 
foreign  parentage,  24.9  per  cent;  mixed  parentage, 
9.7  percent;  parentage  unknown,  4.5  per  cent.  An 
exact  comparison  of  the  children  of  native  parents  and 
of  foreign  parents  in  this  respect  would  require  informa- 
tion as  to  the  total  number  of  the  two  classes  in  the 
country  in  the  year  in  question,  which  is  not  available. 
But  it  cannot  be  supposed  that  the  number  of  native- 
born  children  of  foreign  parents  compared  with  the  num- 
ber of  native-born  children  of  native  parents  in  anything 
like  the  ratio  shown  in  the  above  figures.  This  high 
degree  of  criminality  is  attributed  by  Professor  Commons 
and  by  the  Immigration  Commission  largely  to  concen- 
tration in  the  cities.  Whatever  the  cause,  this  tendency 
toward  lawlessness  among  the  second  generation  of 
immigrants  is  indisputable,  and  is  one  of  the  most  dis- 
turbing elements  in  the  whole  situation.^ 

Still  another  way  in  which  the  immigrant  becomes  a 
burden  upon  the  American  pubUc  is  through  insanity. 
The  laws  are  very  strict  in  regard  to  the  admission  of 
aliens  who  are  Hable  to  be  subject  to  this  misfortune. 
Yet  it  is  impossible  to  prevent  the  entrance  of  large  num- 
bers who  ultimately  appear  in  the  category  of  the  insane. 
The  maladaptation  of  the  immigrant  to  his  environment 
shows  itself  in  this  way  perhaps  as  clearly  as  in  any 
other. 

In  the  institutions  for  the  insane,  both  public  and 
private,  in  the  United  States,  including  Alaska,  Hawaii, 

'  Cf.  Census  Report  on  Prisoners,  1904,  p.  236;  Commons,  Races  and  Immi- 
grants in  America,  p.  170;  lliiW,  Immigration,  p.  150;  Bingham,  A'^o.  Am.  Rev., 
September,  1908;  Addams,  Twenty  Years  at  Ilull-IIouse,  p.  252;  Americans 
in  Process,  p.  209. 


CONDITIONS   AFFECTING   THE   COUNTRY    339 

and  Porto  Rico,  in  1908,  there  were,  according  to  the 
Report  of  the  Commissioner  General  of  Immigration, 
172,185  inmates.  Of  these  25,066  were  aliens,  25,128 
naturalized  citizens,  and  121,451  native-born.  Thus 
the  percentages  were  70.5  per  cent  native-born  and 
29.5  per  cent  —  nearly  one  third  — -  foreign-born.^ 

An  even  larger  percentage  of  foreign-born  appears 
among  the  insane  persons  enumerated  in  hospitals  in 
continental  United  States  on  December  31,  1903  —  34.3 
per  cent  of  the  white  insane  of  known  nativity  ^ — while 
of  the  persons  received  at  Bellevue  and  Allied  Hos- 
pitals for  treatment  for  insanity  during  the  period 
of  the  investigation  of  the  Immigration  Commission, 
63.4  per  cent  were  foreign-born,  and  36.6  per  cent  native- 
born.  Moreover,  among  the  native-born,  more  than 
half  (20.6  per  cent  of  the  total)  were  native-born  of 
foreign  father. 

Summing  up  the  matter  of  insanity,  the  Commission 
speaks  as  follows  :  "For  the  high  ratio  of  insanity  among 
the  foreign-born,  several  causes  have  been  assigned,  and 
while  it  is  difficult  to  determine  the  values  of  the  various 
factors  it  is  probably  true  that  racial  traits  or  tendencies 
have  a  more  or  less  important  influence.  A  further  cause 
of  mental  disease  is  probably  to  be  found  in  the  total 
change  in  climate,  occupation,  and  habits  of  life  which 
the  majority  of  immigrants  experience  after  arrival  in 
the  United  States." 

The  efficiency  of  the  inspection  in  regard  to  feeble- 
mindedness is  shown  by  the  very  small  proportion  of 
foreign-born  of.  that  class  appearing  in  the  statistics. 
This  is  an  affliction  which  can  more  easily  be  detected 

*  Rept.  Com.  Gen.  of  Imm.,  looS,  p.  08. 

*  Insane  and  feeble-minded  in  Llospilals  and  Institulions,  1904,  p.  20. 


340  IMMIGRATION 

than  the  liability  to  insanity,  of  which  there  may  be  no 
observable  indication  at  the  time  of  admission.^ 

•  Rept.  Imm.  Com.,  Immigration  and  Insanity.  Cf.  Williams,  William, 
"Immigration  and  Insanity,"  address  before  the  Mental  Hygiene  Conference, 
New  York  City,  Nov.  14,  igi2.  Yet  the  burden  of  the  feeble-minded  immi- 
grant is  becoming  so  strongly  felt  in  New  York  as  to  lead  the  Chamber  of  Com- 
merce of  that  state  to  send  resolutions  to  Congress  urging  better  provisions  for 
excluding  this  class.     The  Survey,  March  2,  191 2, 


CHAPTER  XVI 

INDUSTRIAL  EFFECTS.      CRISES.      SOCIAL   STRATIFICATION. 

POLITICAL   EFFECTS 

It  has  been  observed  already  that  the  great  argument 
for  immigration  during  the  past  half  century  has  been  the 
economic  one.  The  main  defense  for  immigration  has 
rested  upon  the  claim  that  it  has  decidedly  increased  the 
industrial  efficiency  of  the  American  people,  and  has 
facilitated  the  development  of  our  resources,  and  the 
expansion  of  industry,  at  a  rate  which  would  not  have 
been  possible  otherwise.  The  facts  in  regard  to  the  age, 
sex,  and  physical  soundness  of  the  immigrants  are  mus- 
tered to  establish  them  as  a  pecuharly  efficient  industrial 
body. 

This  contention  rests  upon  two  assumptions.  First, 
that  our  ahen  residents  constitute  a  net  addition  to  the 
total  population  of  the  country;  second,  that  if  there 
had  been  no  immigration,  and  the  population,  particularly 
that  part  of  it  which  constitutes  the  labor  supply,  had 
been  smaller,  that  there  would  have  been  no  inventions 
and  improvements  in  the  way  of  labor-saving  machinery 
which  would  have  permitted  the  same  amount  of  work 
to  be  accomplished  with  a  smaller  amount  of  labor. 

In  the  hght  of  what  has  been  said  in  regard  to  the  re- 
lation between  immigration  and  the  growth  of  popula- 
tion in  Chapter  XI,  the  first  of  these  claims,  at  the  very 
least,  is  open  to  serious  question.  While  the  i)roposition, 
as  has  already  been  stated,  is  absolutely  incapable  of 

341 


342  IMMIGRATION 

mathematical  proof,  there  nevertheless  is  every  reason  to 
believe  that  our  immigrants  have  not  meant  a  gain  in 
the  labor  supply,  but  the  substitution  of  one  labor  ele- 
ment for  another.  Not  only  have  the  immigrants  in 
general  displaced  the  natives,  but  the  newer  immigrants 
have  displaced  the  older  ones  in  a  wide  variety  of  in- 
dustries and  occupations.  This  latter  process  has  gone 
on  before  our  very  eyes ;  it  is  manifest  and  perfectly 
comprehensible.  A  careful  consideration  of  it  may  make 
it  easier  to  understand  how  the  same  result,  in  a  more 
subtle  way,  has  been  accompHshed  in  the  case  of  the 
native-born. 

The  displacement  of  the  EngHsh,  Irish,  Welsh,  and 
German  miners  in  the  anthracite  region  of  Pennsylvania 
by  ItaHans  and  Slavs  is  a  familiar  fact.^  The  Italians 
are  being  driven  out  of  the  bootblacking  business,  and 
other  of  their  characteristic  trades,  by  the  Greeks.  The 
Irish  laborers  on  the  railroads  have  been  largely  sup- 
planted by  Itahans,  Slavs,  and  Greeks.  The  "Bravas," 
or  black  Portuguese,  have  forced  the  Poles,  Italians,  and, 
in  large  measure,  the  Finns  from  the  cranberry  bogs  of 
Massachusetts.^  Granite  City  and  Madison,  Ilhnois, 
have  witnessed  a  succession  of  English,  Irish,  German, 
Welsh  and  Pohsh,  Slovak  and  Magyar,  Roumanian, 
Greek,  and  Servian,  Bulgarian  and  Armenian  laborers 
in  their  industries.^ 

In  these  cases  it  is  plain  that  while  some  of  the  dis- 
placed individuals  have  gone  into  other,  very  likely 
higher,  occupations,  the  real  substitution  has  been  the 

1  Roberts,  P.,  Anthracite  Coal  Communities,  pp.  ig  ff. ;  Warne,  Slav  Invasion. 

2  Jenks  and  Lauck,  Immigration  Problem,  p.  92. 

^  Ibid.,  p.  72.  For  numerous  other  cases  see  Rept.  Imm.  Com.,  Imms.  in 
Mf.  and  Min.,  Abs.,  pp.  226  ff. ;  Commons,  J.  R.,  Races  and  Immigrants  in 
America,  pp.  151,  152. 


CONDITIONS    AFFECTING  THE    COUNTRY     343 

concomitant  of  a  cessation  of  immigration  from  the  older 
sources.  The  north  Europeans,  being  unwilling  to  meet 
the  competition  of  races  industrially  inferior  to  them, 
have  either  ceased  emigrating  in  large  numbers,  or  else 
are  going  elsewhere.  At  any  rate  they  do  not  come  here. 
The  diminution  of  the  supply  of  native  labor  has  been 
brought  about  in  an  analogous  way,  though  in  this  case 
the  restrictive  forces  operate  upon  the  principles  of 
reproduction  instead  of  immigration. 

Even  though  it  be  granted  that  the  numerical  supply  of 
labor  has  been  somewhat  increased,  there  has  been  an 
undeniable  decrease  in  the  efficiency  of  the  individual 
laborer,  as  is  attested  by  the  uniformly  superior  earnings 
received  by  the  native-born  as  compared  with  the  foreign- 
born,  or  the  old  immigrant  as  compared  with  the  new. 
As  Dr.  Peter  Roberts  has  pointed  out,^  there  seems  to  be 
a  sort  of  Gresham's  law  which  operates  in  the  field  of 
labor.  The  fittest  to  survive  in  an  unregulated  economic 
competition  of  races  is  the  one  least  advanced  in  culture, 
the  one  whose  demands  in  respect  to  comforts  and  de- 
cencies are  lowest,  even  the  one,  it  sometimes  seems, 
whose  industrial  productiveness  per  individual  is  lowest. 
It  is  this  fact  which  gives  so  dark  an  aspect  to  the  in- 
dustrial future  of  the  United  States  under  unregulated 
immigration.- 

In  regard  to  the  second  assumption  —  that  a  smaller 

'  Anthracite  Coal  Communities,  p.  20. 

*  For  an  opposite  view  of  this  whole  question,  see  Hourwich,  I.  A.,  Immigra- 
tion and  Labor.  This  book,  which  should  be  consulted  for  an  elaborate  defense 
of  free  immigration  from  the  economic  point  of  view,  has  come  to  hand  too  late 
to  be  cited  at  frequent  intervals  throughout  the  present  work.  It  is  an  ingenious 
production,  but  so  full  of  inconsistencies,  inaccuracies,  and  misleading  statements 
that  to  criticize  it  in  detail  would  require  a  volume  in  itself.  The  refutation  of 
many  of  Dr.  Hourwich's  arguments  may  be  found  throughout  the  pages  of  the 
present  work. 


344  IMMIGRATION 

labor  supply  would  not  have  been  offset  by  an  increase  in 
invention  —  we  are  again  confronted  with  an  impossibil- 
ity of  proof,  one  way  or  the  other.  The  economists  tell 
us  that  one  of  the  great  incentives  to  invention  is  a 
scarcity  of  labor,  and  also  that  many  of  the  greatest  in- 
ventions have  been  made  by  men  who  are  working  daily 
with  machines,  and  consequently  are  in  a  position  to 
discover  improvements  that  may  be  made.  There  is  at 
least  some  reasonable  basis  for  the  behef  that  if  the 
absence  of  immigration  to  this  country  had  resulted  in  a 
smaller  laboring  force,  the  greater  pressure  on  em- 
ployers to  secure  machinery,  and  the  greater  intelHgence 
of  the  machine  worker,  would  together  have  brought 
about  such  a  betterment  of  labor-saving  machinery  as 
would  have  resulted  in  a  total  production  equal  to  what 
we  have  actually  witnessed. 

It  is  inconceivable  that  in  America,  of  all  countries, 
any  needed  work  should  have  to  be  neglected  because  of 
the  lack  of  a  foreign  labor  element,  or  because  of  a  short- 
age of  labor  in  general.^  It  is  hard  to  see  how  in  a  nation 
the  majority  of  whose  citizens  are  healthy  and  intelligent 
there  can  be  any  real  shortage  of  labor.  What  there 
can  be,  is  a  shortage  of  labor  at  a  given  wage.  In  a  pros- 
perous community  there  may  be  industries  into  which  a 
sufhcient  number  of  laborers  will  not  go,  at  the  wages 
which  the  promoters  are  originally  willing  to  pay.  But 
if  there  is  an  actual  social  need  for  those  industries, 
wages  will  rise  to  a  point  high  enough  to  attract  a  suffi- 
cient number  of  workers,  however  irksome  or  disagree- 
able  the  employment.     No   self-respecting   community 

'  Mr.  W.  L.  Anderson,  who  is  not  an  extreme  advocate  of  the  opinion  that  im- 
migration has  not  increased  population,  nevertheless  says,  "Certainly  the  com- 
mon assertion  that  without  the  foreifiner  the  development  of  the  country  would 
Imve  halted  disastrously  is  fallacious."     The  Country  Town,  p.  154. 


CONDITIONS   AFFECTING  THE   COUNTRY     345 

ought  to  expect  industries  to  be  carried  on  within  its 
borders  for  which  it  is  not  wiHing  to  pay  such  a  price  as 
will  enable  the  workers  to  subsist  in  reasonable  comfort 
and  decency.  If  there  are  any  industries  carried  on 
in  the  United  States  which,  in  the  absence  of  a  foreign 
labor  supply,  would  have  to  be  abandoned,  because  the 
native-born  laborers  or  their  children  would  refuse  to 
go  into  them,  it  simply  means  that  society  is  not  yet 
ready  to  pay  a  fit  price  for  the  products  of  those 
industries. 

This  brings  us  to  the  question  of  the  effect  of  immigra- 
tion on  the  amount  and  distribution  of  wealth  in  the 
United  States.  It  is  frequently  pointed  out  that  we 
receive  yearly  a  net  increase  of  half  a  million  or  so  of 
able-bodied  laborers,  for  whose  upbringing  and  educa- 
tion we,  as  a  nation,  have  expended  nothing.  It  is 
stated  that  it  is  cheaper  to  import  laborers  than  to  raise 
them.  The  truth  of  this,  assertion  depends  first  of  aU 
on  the  quality  of  the  laborer.  It  may  be  cheaper  in  the 
long  run  to  rear  laborers  of  the  American  type  than  to 
import  Portuguese,  Russians,  and  East  Indians.  Further- 
more, while  we  do  not  pay  directly  for  the  laborers,  we 
pay  a  great  deal  for  their  residence  in  this  country. 
The  estimated  amount  of  money  sent  abroad  by  aliens  in 
1907,  $275,000,000,  is  probably  higher  than  the  total 
for  an  average  year.  Suppose  $200,000,000  be  taken  as 
an  average  amount.^  These  remittances  do  not  represent 
commercial  payments  for  imports,  but  are  savings  actu- 
ally withdrawn  from  the  wealth  of  this  country  and  sent 
abroad  to  be  expended  there.  So  that  for  each  able- 
bodied  alien  laborer  who  enters  the  country  something 

>  Some  allowance  needs  also  to  be  made  for  the  amount  of  money  brought  in. 
Sec  p.  202. 


346  IMMIGRATION 

like  $400  goes  out.  In  a  sense  a  good  deal  of  this 
money  might  be  considered  as  actual  payment  for  the 
importation  of  the  laborers,  since  much  of  it  goes  for 
traveling  expenses,  debts  incurred  to  provide  for  emigra- 
tion, etc.^ 

Whether  immigration  has  increased  either  the  total  or 
per  capita  wealth  of  the  nation  may  be  open  to  ques- 
tion. One  thing,  however,  is  certain  —  it  has  profoundly 
affected  the  distribution  of  wealth  in  the  country.  It 
has  been  sufficiently  demonstrated  that  the  successive 
waves  of  immigration  have  represented  an  ever  cheapen- 
ing labor  supply.  As  the  country  has  grown  in  wealth 
and  prosperity  the  employers  of  labor  have  found  that 
they  could  secure  their  workers  at  relatively,  if  not 
absolutely,  lower  rates  decade  after  decade.  Whenever 
conditions  became  such  that  the  native  laboring  force, 
if  left  to  themselves,  might  have  successfully  demanded 
better  conditions  or  higher  remuneration,  there  has 
appeared  an  inexhaustible  supply  of  foreign  laborers, 
ready  and  willing  to  take  what  was  unsatisfactory  to  the 
natives,  or  less.  The  workman  already  in  the  country, 
whether  native  or  foreign,  has  been  continually  robbed  of 
his  advantage.  Thus  the  gap  between  capital  and  labor, 
between  the  rich  and  the  poor,  has  grown  ever  wider. 
Not  only  have  wages  been  kept  from  rising,  but  condi- 
tions of  labor  have  persisted  and  been  tolerated  which  an 
American  laboring  force  would  never  have  submitted  to. 
The  accounts  of  terrible  accidents  in  mines  and  foundries 
arouse  sincere  feelings  of  sympathy  in  our  breasts  for  the 
poor  foreigners  who  have  to  suffer  so.  They  would  incite 
a  storm  of  indignant  protest  which  would  not  be  stilled 

1  Speare,  Charles  F.,  "What  America  Pays  Europe  for  Immigrant  Labor," 

No.  Am.  Rev.,  187  :  106. 


CONDITIONS   AFFECTING   THE   COUNTRY     347 

until  remedies  were  provided,  if  those  who  are  subjected 
to  such  conditions  were  our  own  kin  brothers.^ 

There  is  still  another  characteristic  feature  of  our 
economic  life,  between  which  and  the  immigration  move- 
ment a  close  and  peculiar  connection  can  be  traced. 
This  is  the  frequent  recurrence  of  economic  depressions, 
or  crises.  The  causal  relation  between  these  events  and 
the  variations  in  the  volume  of  the  immigration  current 
has  already  been  mentioned.  There  is  also  a  causal 
relation  between  these  conditions  and  the  fluctuations 
in  the  outgoing  stream  of  aliens.  This  fact  has  received 
no  little  attention  of  late  years,  and  it  has  been  frequently 
pointed  out  that  a  period  of  depression  in  this  country  is 
followed  by  a  large  exodus  of  the  foreign-bom. 

The  popular  interpretation  of  this  fact  is  that  this 
emigration  movement  serves  to  mitigate  the  e\dls  of  the 
crisis  by  removing  a  large  part  of  the  surplus  laborers, 
until  returning  prosperity  creates  a  demand  for  them 
again.  The  Italian,  who  displays  the  greatest  mobihty 
in  this  regard,  has  been  called  the  safety  valve  of  our  labor 
market.  Thus  the  movements  of  our  ahen  population 
are  supposed  to  be  an  alleviating  force  as  regards  crises. 

The  question  arises,  however,  in  this  connection, 
whether  there  is  not  a  converse  causal  relation  ;  in  other 
words,  whether  the  conditions  of  immigration  are  not, 
partly  responsible  for  the  recurrence  of  these  periods. 
Professor  Commons  takes  this  view  of  the  matter,  and 
in  his  book,  Races  ami  Immigrants  in  America,  dem- 
onstrates how  immigration,  instead  of  helping  matters, 

'  Cf.  Balch,  op.  cit.,  p.  302.  Fred  C.  Croxton  and  W.  Jett  Lauck  find  the  re- 
cent immigrants  largely  responsible  for  dangerous  and  unhealthful  conditions  in 
mines  and  factories,  and  trace  a  direct  causal  relation  between  the  extensive  em- 
ployment of  recent  immigrants  and  the  extraordinary  increase  of  mining  acci- 
dents in  recent  years.     Spiller,  G.,  Inter-Racial  Problems,  pp.  218-219. 


348  IMMIGRATION 

is  really  one  of  the  causes  of  crises.  His  conclusion  is  that 
"immigration  intensifies  this  fatal  cycle  of  'booms'  and 
'depressions,'"  and  "instead  of  increasing  the  produc- 
tion of  wealth  by  a  steady,  healthful  growth,  joins  with 
other  causes  to  stimulate  the  feverish  overproduction, 
with  its  inevitable  collapse,  that  has  characterized  the 
industry  of  America  more  than  that  of  any  other 
country."  ^ 

The  few  pages  which  Professor  Commons  devotes  to 
this  topic  are  highly  suggestive,  and  show  careful  study 
of  the  subject.  The  author,  however,  at  the  time  this 
book  was  written,  was  handicapped  by  the  lack  of  data 
regarding  the  departures  of  aliens,  which,  as  we  have 
seen,  have  since  become  available.  The  fact  that  within 
the  period  since  the  collection  of  these  figures  began,  the 
United  States  has  experienced,  and  recovered  from,  a 
severe  depression,  makes  the  study  of  this  matter  at  the 
present  time  particularly  profitable. 

First  of  all,  it  will  be  desirable  to  see  just  what  the  facts 
of  immigration  and  emigration  during  this  period  are ; 
then  we  shall  be  prepared  to  attempt  their  interpretation. 
The  accompanying  table  (p.  349)  gives  the  number  of 
aliens  admitted  to  and  departed  from  the  United  States, 
and  the  net  increase  or  decrease  of  population  resulting 
therefrom,  by  months,  from  January,  1907,  to  December, 
1910  (with  the  exception  of  the  figures  of  departures  for 
the  first  six  months  of  1907,  which  are  not  available). 

The  figures  for  arrivals  given  in  this  table  include  both 
immigrant  and  nonimmigrant  aliens,  a  distinction  which 
has  been  observed  with  some  care  since  1906.  The 
column  of  departures  also  includes  emigrant  and  non- 
emigrant  aliens.^ 

*  PP-  155-159-  '  For  the  distinction  between  these  classes  see  p.  125. 


CONDITIONS   AFFECTING  THE   COUNTRY     349 

TABLE  SHOWING  THE  NUMBER  OF  ALIENS  AD- 
MITTED TO  AND  DEPARTED  FROM  THE  UNITED 
STATES,  .\ND  THE  NET  GAIN  OR  LOSS  IN 
POPULATION  RESULTING  THEREFROM  BY 
MONTHS,    FROM    1907    TO    1910 


Month 


January  , 
February 
March 
April  . 
May  . 
June   . 

July   . 

August 
September 
October  . 
November 
December 


January 
February 
March 
April   . 
May   . 
June   . 
July    . 
August 
September 
October 
November 
December 


1907 


Admitted 

Departed 

54,417 

65,541 

139,118 

145,256 

184,886 

154,734 

107,53s 

46,198 

111,135 

44,317 

115,287 

43,734 

129,564 

55,826 

132,647 

94,440 

77,107 

88,432 

Gain  ( + )  or 
Loss  ( — ) 


+  61,337 
+  66,818 

+  71,553 
+  73,738 
+  38,207 

-  11,325 


1908 


Admitted 


1909 


54,975 

18,061 

81,992 

15,100 

135,040 

22,550 

138,382 

24,315 

127,139 

31,190 

100,542 

32,274 

77,944 

27,940 

71,992 

28,450 

85.0S8 

29,950 

92,372 

30,838 

98,020 

39,134 

78,527 

39,539 

+  36,914 
+  66,892 

+  112,490 
+  114,067 


+ 
+ 
+ 

+ 
+ 
+ 
+ 


95,949 
68,268 
50,004 
43.542 
55,138 
61.534 
58.886 
38,988 


33,058 
30,266 

43,537 
55, 220 

48,245 
41,094 

37,133 
39,606 

56,635 
60,715 

50,965 
61,111 


Departed 


60,233 
50,688 
43,506 
65,721 
61,251 
60,482 
51,508 
47,569 
43,884 
41,916 
38,609 
33,416 


Gain  ( + )  or 
Loss  (  — ) 


-  27,175 

-  20,422 

+  31 

-  10,501 

-  13,006 

-  19,388 

-  14,375 

-  7,963 
+  12,751 
+  18,799 
+  12,356 

+  27,69s 


1910 


57,472 

20,256 

66,072 

17,672 

152,020 

30,894 

153,915 

40,886 

148,822 

38,740 

"5,793 

36,119 

82,191 

39,056 

91,460 

37,206 

100,456 

43,023 

100,334 

39,189 

86,144 

54,700 

68,794 

61,814 

+  37,216 
+  48,400 

+  121,126 

+  113-029 

+  110,082 

79,674 
43.135 
54.254 

57,433 

61,145 

31,444 

6,q8o 


It  is  not  necessary  to  take  account  of  these  discrimina- 
tions for  the  purposes  of  the  present  study. 

Turning  then  to  the  table,  we  observe  that  the  monthly 


350  IMMIGRATION 

average  of  arrivals  during  the  first  six  months  of  1907 
was  a  high  one.  Following  a  large  immigration  during 
the  last  six  months  of  the  preceding  year,  this  made  the 
fiscal  year  ending  June  30,  1907,  the  record  year  for  im- 
migration in  the  history  of  the  country.  For  the  next 
four  months  the  stream  of  immigration  continued  high, 
considering  the  season,  and  the  number  of  departures 
was  moderate.  Early  in  October,  however,  there  were 
signs  of  disturbance  in  the  New  York  Stock  Exchange. 
On  the  sixteenth  there  was  a  crash  in  the  market,  and 
within  a  week  the  panic  had  become  general.  It  reached 
its  height  on  October  24,  and  continued  for  many  weeks 
after. ^  The  response  of  the  alien  population  to  this  dis- 
turbance was  almost  immediate,  and  manifested  itself 
first  in  the  emigration  movement.  In  November  the 
number  of  departures  almost  doubled.  But  the  immi- 
grants who  were  on  the  way  could  not  be  stopped,  and  in 
spite  of  the  large  exodus,  there  was  a  net  gain  of  38,207 
during  the  month.  The  next  month,  December,  however, 
saw  a  marked  decrease  in  the  stream  of  arrivals,  which, 
accompanied  by  a  departure  of  ahens  almost  as  great  as  in 
November,  resulted  in  a  net  decrease  in  population  of 
11,325  for  the  month.  During  the  first  six  months  of 
1908  the  number  of  arrivals  was  small,  and  the  departures 
numerous,  so  that,  with  the  exception  of  March,  each 
month  shows  a  net  loss  in  population.  During  July  the 
number  of  departures  began  to  approach  the  normal 
(compare  the  months  in  1908  with  1907  and  19 10),  but 
the  arrivals  were  so  few  that  there  was  still  a  decrease 
for  the  months  of  July  and  August.  In  September,  1908, 
the  balance  swung  the  other  way,  and  from  that  time  to 
the  present  every  month  with  the  exception  of  December, 

1  White,  Money  and  Banking,  third  edition,  Ch.  XVIII. 


CONDITIONS   AFFECTING  THE   COUNTRY     351 

191 1,  has  shown  a  substantial  increase  in  population 
through  the  movement  of  aUens. 

Thus  we  see  that  the  period  during  which  the  number 
of  alien  laborers  in  the  United  States  was  decreasing  was 
confined  to  the  months  December,  1907,  to  August,  1908, 
inclusive.^  By  the  end  of  July,  1908,  the  effects  of  the 
crisis  were  practically  over  as  far  as  departures  are  con- 
cerned. It  is  evident,  then,  that  the  effects  of  the  crisis 
on  emigration  were  iimnediate,  but  not  of  very  long 
duration.  During  the  months  of  November  and  De- 
cember, 1907,  when  the  distress  was  the  keenest,  there 
were  still  large  numbers  of  aliens  arriving.  But  when 
the  stream  of  immigration  was  once  checked,  it  remained 
low  for  some  time,  and  it  was  not  until  about  January, 
1909,  that  it  returned  to  what  may  be  considered  a  nor- 
mal figure.  The  reasons  for  this  are  obvious.  The 
stream  of  immigration  is  a  long  one,  and  its  sources  are 
remote.  It  takes  a  long  time  for  retarding  influences  in 
America  to  be  thoroughly  felt  on  the  other  side.  The 
principal  agency  in  checking  immigration  at  its  source  is 
the  returning  immigrant  himself,  who  brings  personal 
imformation  of  the  unfortunate  conditions  in  the  United 
States.  This  takes  some  time.  But  when  the  potential 
immigrants  are  once  discouraged  as  to  the  outlook 
across  the  ocean,  they  require  some  positive  assurance  of 
better  times  before  they  will  start  out  again. 

Now  what  catches  the  pubhc  eye  in  such  an  epoch  as 
this  is  the  large  number  of  departures.  We  are  accus- 
tomed to  immense  numbers  of  arrivals  and  we  think  little 
about  that  side  of  it.     But  heavy  emigration  is  a  phe- 

'  The  fact  that  in  March,  1908,  there  was  a  gain  of  31  is  not  a  coincidence. 
The  month  of  March  is  always  a  busy  one  in  immigration,  as  it  opens  the  spring 
season,  and  this  influence  was  sufficient  to  check  the  prevailing  movement  tem- 
porarily. 


352  IMMIGRATION 

nomenon,  and  accordingly  we  hear  much  about  how 
acceptably  our  alien  population  serves  to  accommodate 
the  supply  of  labor  to  the  demand.  But  if  we  stop  to 
add  up  the  monthly  figures,  we  find  that  for  the  entire 
period  after  the  crisis  of  1907,  when  emigration  exceeded 
immigration,  the  total  decrease  in  alien  population  was 
only  124,124  —  scarcely  equal  to  the  immigration  of  a 
single  month  during  a  fairly  busy  season.  This  figure  is 
almost  infinitesimal  compared  to  the  total  mass  of  the 
American  working  people,  or  to  the  amount  of  unem- 
ployment at  a  normal  time,  to  say  nothing  of  a  crisis.^ 
It  is  thus  evident  that  the  importance  of  our  alien  popu- 
lation as  an  alleviating  force  at  the  time  of  a  crisis  has 
been  vastly  exaggerated.  The  most  that  can  be  said 
for  it  is  that  it  has  a  very  trifling  palliative  effect. 

The  really  important  relation  between  immigration  and 
crises  is  much  less  conspicuous  but  much  more  far-reach- 
ing. It  rests  upon  the  nature  and  underlying  causes  of 
crises  in  this  country.  These  are  fairly  well  understood 
at  the  present  time.  A  typical  crisis  may  be  said  to  be 
caused  by  speculative  overproduction,  or  overspecula- 
tive  production.  Some  prefer  to  call  the  trouble  under- 
consumption, which  is  much  the  same  thing  looked  at 
from  another  point  of  view.  Professor  Irving  Fisher  has 
furnished  a  convenient  and  logical  outline  of  the  ordinary 
course  of  affairs.^  In  a  normal  business  period  some  slight 
disturbance,  such  as  an  increase  in  the  quantity  of  gold, 
causes  prices  to  rise.  A  rise  in  prices  is  accompanied  by 
increased  profits  for  business  men,  because  the  rate  of 

1  Mr.  F.  H.  Streightofl  shows  that  at  the  time  the  census  of  igoo  was  taken, 
2,634,336  or  II. I  per  cent  of  all  males  over  ten  years  of  age  who  were  engaged 
in  gainful  occupation  in  the  United  States  were  unemployed  three  months  or 
more  during  the  year.     See  Standard  of  Living,  p.  35. 

*  Fisher,  Irving,  The  Purchasing  Power  of  Money,  pp.  58  scq. 


CONDITIONS   AFFECTING   THE   COUNTRY     353 

interest  on  the  borrowed  capital  which  they  use  in  their 
business  fails  to  increase  at  a  corresponding  ratio.  If 
prices  are  rising  at  the  rate  of  two  per  cent  annually,  a 
nominal  rate  of  interest  of  six  per  cent  is  equivalent  to  an 
actual  rate  of  only  about  four  per  cent.  Hence,  doing 
business  on  borrowed  capital  becomes  very  profitable, 
and  there  is  an  increased  demand  for  loans. 

This  results  in  an  increase  of  the  deposit  currency, 
which  is  accompanied  by  a  further  rise  in  prices.  The 
nominal  rate  of  interest  rises  somewhat,  but  not  suffi- 
ciently, and  prices  tend  to  outstrip  it  still  further.  Thus 
the  process  is  repeated,  until  the  large  profits  of  business 
lead  to  a  disproportionate  production  of  goods  for  antici- 
pated future  demand,  and  a  vast  overextension  of  credit. 
But  this  cycle  cannot  repeat  itself  indefinitely.  Though 
the  rate  of  interest  rises  tardily,  it  rises  progressively,  and 
eventually  catches  up  with  the  rise  in  prices,  owing  to  the 
necessity  which  banks  feel  of  maintaining  a  reasonable 
ratio  between  loans  and  reserves.  Other  causes  operate 
with  this  to  produce  the  same  result.  The  consequence 
is  that  business  men  find  themselves  unable  to  renew  their 
loans  at  the  old  rate,  and  hence  some  of  them  are  unable 
to  meet  their  obligations,  and  fail.  The  failure  of  a  few 
firms  dispels  the  atmosphere  of  public  confidence  which 
is  essential  to  extended  credit.  Creditors  begin  to  de- 
mand cash  pa>TTient  for  their  loans ;  there  is  a  growing 
demand  for  currency  ;  the  rate  of  interest  soars ;  and  the 
old  famihar  symptoms  of  a  panic  appear.  In  this  entire 
process  the  blame  falls,  according  to  Professor  Fisher, 
primarily  upon  the  failure  of  the  rate  of  interest  to  rise 
promptly  in  proportion  to  the  rise  in  prices.  If  the  forces 
which  give  inertia  to  the  rate  of  interest  were  removed,  so 
that  the  rate  of  interest  would  fluctuate  readily  with 

2  A 


354  IMMIGRATION 

prices,  the  great  temptation  to  expand  business  unduly 
during  a  period  of  rising  prices  would  be  removed.  It 
may  well  be  conceived  that  there  are  other  factors, 
besides  the  discrepancy  between  the  nominal  and  real 
rates  of  interest,  that  give  to  business  a  temporary  or 
specious  profitableness,  and  tend  to  encourage  speculative 
overproduction.  But  the  influence  of  the  rate  of  interest 
resembles  so  closely  that  resulting  from  immigration, 
that  Professor  Fisher's  explanation  is  of  especial  service 
in  the  present  discussion. 

The  rate  of  interest  represents  the  payment  which  the 
entrepreneur  makes  for  one  of  the  great  factors  of  pro- 
duction —  capital.  The  failure  of  this  remuneration  to 
keep  pace  with  the  price  of  commodities  in  general  leads 
to  excessive  profits  and  overproduction.  The  payment 
which  the  entrepreneur  makes  for  one  of  the  other  factors 
of  production  —  labor  —  is  represented  by  wages.  If 
wages  fail  to  rise  along  with  prices,  the  effect  on  business, 
while  not  strictly  analogous,  is  very  similar  to  that  pro- 
duced by  the  slowly  rising  rate  of  interest.  The  entre- 
preneur is  relieved  of  the  necessity  of  sharing  any  of  his 
excessive  profits  with  labor,  just  as  in  the  other  case  he  is 
reHeved  from  sharing  them  with  capital.  It  would  prob- 
ably be  hard  to  prove  that  the  increased  demand  for 
labor  results  in  further  raising  prices  in  general,  as  an  in- 
creased demand  for  capital  results  in  raising  prices  by 
increasing  the  deposit  currency.  But  if  the  demand  for 
labor  results  in  increasing  the  number  of  laborers  in  the 
country,  thereby  increasing  the  demand  for  commodities, 
it  may  very  well  result  in  raising  the  prices  of  commodities 
as  distinguished  from  labor,  which  is  just  as  satisfactory 
to  the  entrepreneur.  This  is  exactly  what  is  accomphshed 
when  unlimited  immigration  is  allowed.     As  soon  as  the 


CONDITIONS   AFFECTING  THE   COUNTRY     355 

conditions  of  business  produce  an  increased  demand  for 
labor,  this  demand  is  met  by  an  increased  number  of 
laborers,  produced  by  immigration. 

In  the  preceding  paragraph  it  has  been  assumed  that 
wages  do  not  rise  with  prices.  The  great  question  is,  is 
this  true  ?  This  is  a  question  very  difficult  of  answer. 
There  is  a  very  general  impression  that  during  the  last 
few  years  prices  have  seriously  outstripped  wages. 
Thus  Professor  Ely  says,  "Wages  do  not  usually  rise  as 
rapidly  as  prices  in  periods  of  business  expansion."^ 
R.  B.  Brinsmade  stated  in  a  discussion  at  a  recent  meet- 
ing of  the  American  Economic  Association  that  "our 
recent  great  rise  of  prices  is  acknowledged  to  be  equiva- 
lent to  a  marked  reduction  in  general  wages."  -  Whether 
this  idea  is  correct,  and  if  correct,  whether  this  effect  had 
transpired  in  the  years  immediately  previous  to  1907, 
cannot  be  definitely  stated.  The  index  numbers  of 
wages  and  prices  given  in  the  Statistical  Abstract  of  the 
United  States,  for  1909  (p.  249),  seem  to  show  that  during 
the  years  1895  to  1907  money  wages  increased  about 
pari  passu  with  the  retail  prices  of  food,  so  that  the 
purchasing  power  of  the  full-time  weekly  earnings  re- 
mained nearly  constant. 

But  whether  or  not  money  wages  rose  as  fast  as  prices 
in  the  years  from  1900  to  1907,  one  thing  is  certain,  they 
did  not  rise  any  faster.  That  is  to  say,  if  real  wages  did 
not  actually  fall,  they  assuredly  did  not  rise.  But  the 
welfare  of  the  country  requires  that,  in  the  years  when 
business  is  moving  toward  a  crisis,  wages  should  rise ; 
not  only  money  wages,  but  real  wages.  What  is  needed 
is  some  check  on  the  unwarranted  activity  of  the  entre- 

•  Ely,  R.  T.,  Oulliiics  of  Economics,  p.  268. 

'  Bulletin  of  the  American  Economic  Association,  April,  igii,  p.  253. 


356  IMMIGRATION 

preneurs,  which  will  make  them  stop  and  consider  whether 
the  apparently  bright  business  outlook  rests  on  sound  and 
permanent  conditions,  or  is  illusory  and  transient.  If 
their  large  profits  are  legitimate  and  enduring,  they 
should  be  forced  to  share  a  part  of  them  with  the  laborer. 
If  not,  the  fact  should  be  impressed  upon  them.  We 
have  seen  that  the  rate  of  interest  fails  to  act  as  an 
efhcient  check.  Then  the  rate  of  wages  should  do  it. 
And  if  the  entrepreneurs  were  compelled  to  rely  on  the 
existing  labor  supply  in  their  own  country,  the  rate  of 
wages  would  do  it.  Business  expands  by  increasing 
the  amount  of  labor  utilized,  as  well  as  the  amount  of 
capital.  If  the  increased  labor  supply  could  be  secured 
only  from  the  people  already  resident  in  the  country, 
the  increased  demand  would  have  to  express  itself  in  an 
increased  wage,  and  the  entrepreneur  would  be  forced  to 
pause  and  reflect.  But  in  the  United  States  we  have 
adopted  the  opposite  policy.  In  the  vast  peasant  popu- 
lation of  Europe  there  is  an  inexhaustible  reservoir  of 
labor,  only  waiting  a  signal  from  this  side  to  enter  the 
labor  market  —  to  enter  it,  not  with  a  demand  for  the 
high  wage  that  the  business  situation  justifies,  but  ready 
to  take  any  wage  that  will  be  offered,  just  so  it  is  a  little 
higher  than  the  pittance  to  which  they  are  accustomed  at 
home.  And  we  allow  them  to  come,  without  any  restric- 
tions whatever  as  to  numbers.  Thus  wages  are  kept  from 
rising,  and  immigration  becomes  a  powerful  factor,  tend- 
ing to  intensify  and  augment  the  unhealthy,  oscillatory 
character  of  our  industrial  life.  It  was  not  by  mere 
chance  that  the  panic  year  of  1907  was  the  record  year  in 
immigration. 

Against  this  point  of  view  it  may  be  argued  that  the 
legitimate  expansion  of  business  in  this  country  requires 


CONDITIONS   AFFECTING   THE   COUNTRY     357 

the  presence  of  the  immigrant.  But  if  business  expan- 
sion is  legitimate  and  permanent,  resting  on  lasting  favor- 
able conditions,  it  will  express  itself  in  a  high  wage  scale, 
persisting  over  a  long  period  of  time.  And  the  demand 
so  expressed  will  be  met  by  an  increase  of  native  off- 
spring, whose  parents  are  reaping  the  benefit  of  the  high 
standard  of  Kving.  A  permanent  shortage  of  the  labor 
supply  is  as  abhorrent  to  nature  as  a  vacuum.  Expan- 
sion of  any  other  kind  than  this  ought  to  be  hampered, 
not  gratified. 

There  is  one  other  way  in  which  immigration,  as  it 
exists  at  present,  influences  crises.  In  considering  this, 
it  will  be  well  to  regard  the  crisis  from  the  other  point 
of  view  —  as  a  phenomenon  of  underconsumption. 
Practically  all  production  at  the  present  day  is  to  supply 
an  anticipated  future  demand.  There  can  be  no  over- 
production unless  the  actual  demand  fails  to  equal  that 
anticipated.  This  is  underconsumption.  Now  the 
great  mass  of  consumers  in  the  United  States  is  composed 
of  wage  earners.  Their  consuming  power  depends  upon 
their  wages.  In  so  far  as  immigration  lowers  wages  in 
the  United  States,  or  prevents  them  from  rising,  it  re- 
duces consuming  power,  and  hence  is  favorable  to  the 
recurrence  of  periods  of  underconsumption.  It  is  not 
probable,  to  be  sure,  that  a  high  wage  scale  in  itself 
could  prevent  crises,  as  the  entrepreneurs  would  base 
their  calculations  on  the  corresponding  consuming  power, 
just  as  they  do  at  present.  But  a  high  wage  scale  carries 
with  it  the  possibility  of  saving,  and  an  increase  of  accu- 
mulations among  the  common  people.  It  is  estimated  at 
the  present  time  that  half  of  the  industrial  people  of  the 
United  States  are  unable  to  save  anything.^     This  in- 

*  Streightoff,  The  Standard  oj  Living,  p.  ^4. 


358  IMMIGRATION 

I 

crease  in  saving  would  almost  inevitably  have  some 
effect  upon  the  results  of  crises,  though  it  must  be  con- 
fessed that  it  is  very  difHcult  to  predict  just  what  this 
effect  would  be.  One  result  that  might  naturally  be 
expected  to  follow  would  be  that  the  laboring  classes 
would  take  the  opportunity  of  the  period  of  low  prices 
immediately  following  the  crisis  to  invest  some  of  their 
savings  in  luxuries  which  hitherto  they  had  not  felt  able 
to  afford.  This  would  increase  the  demand  for  the  goods 
which  manufacturers  are  eager  to  dispose  of  at  almost 
any  price,  and  would  thereby  mitigate  the  evils  of  the 
depressed  market.  It  is  probably  true  that  the  immi- 
grant, under  the  same  conditions,  will  save  more  out  of  a 
given  wage  than  the  native,  so  that  it  might  seem  that 
an  alien  laboring  body  would  have  more  surplus  available 
for  use  at  the  time  of  a  crisis  than  a  native  class.  But 
the  immigrant  sends  a  very  large  proportion  of  his  savings 
to  friends  and  relatives  in  the  old  country,  or  deposits 
it  in  foreign  institutions,  so  that  it  is  not  available  at 
such  a  time.  Moreover,  our  laboring  class  is  not  as  yet 
wholly  foreign,  and  the  native  has  to  share  approximately 
the  same  wage  as  the  alien.  Without  the  immense  body 
of  ahen  labor,  we  should  have  a  class  of  native  workers 
with  a  considerably  higher  wage  scale,  and  a  large 
amount  of  savings  accumulated  in  this  country,  and 
available  when  needed. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  may  be  argued  that  if  the  desire 
to  purchase  goods  in  a  depressed  market  should  lead  to  a 
large  withdrawal  of  cash  from  savings  banks  and  similar 
institutions,  it  might  tend  to  augment  rather  than  allevi- 
ate the  evils  of  a  money  stringency.  There  seems  to  be 
much  force  to  this  argument.  Yet  Mr.  Streightoff  tells 
us  that  in  a  period  of  hard  times  the  tendency  is  for  the 


CONDITIONS   AFFECTING  THE    COUNTRY     359 

poorer  classes  to  increase  their  deposits,  rather  than 
diminish  them.^  On  the  whole,  it  seems  probable  that  a 
large  amount  of  accumulated  savings  in  the  hands  of  the 
poorer  classes  would  tend  to  have  a  steadying  influence 
on  conditions  at  the  time  of  a  crisis,  and  that  by  pre- 
venting this,  as  well  as  in  other  ways,  immigration  tends 
to  increase  the  evils  of  crises. 

In  closing  this  discussion,  it  may  be  interesting  to  note 
what  are  the  elements  in  our  alien  population  which  re- 
spond most  readily  to  economic  influences  in  this  country, 
and  hence  are  mainly  accountable  for  the  influences  we 
have  been  considering.  As  stated  above,  the  annual 
reports  of  the  Commissioner  General  of  Immigration  give 
very  complete  data  as  to  the  make-up  of  the  incoming  and 
outgoing  streams  by  years.  Thus  in  the  fiscal  year  1908 
there  were  782,870  immigrant  aliens  and  141,825  non- 
immigrant aliens  admitted.  Of  the  nonimmigrant 
aliens,  86,570  were  individuals  whose  country  of  last 
permanent  residence  and  of  intended  future  residence 
were  both  the  United  States ;  that  is,  they  were  alien 
residents  of  this  country  who  had  been  abroad  for  a 
brief  visit.  These  are  the  birds  of  passage  in  the  strictest 
sense,  in  which  we  shall  use  the  term  hereafter.  In  the 
same  year  there  was  a  total  exodus  of  714,828  ahens,  of 
whom  395,073  were  emigrants  and  319,755  nonemigrants. 
The  former  class  includes  those  who  have  made  their 
fortune  in  this  country  and  are  going  home  to  spend  it, 
and  those  who  have  failed,  and  are  going  home  broken 
and  discouraged  —  a  very  large  number  in  this  panic 
year.  The  latter  class  includes  aliens  who  have  had  a 
permanent  residence  in  the  United  States,  but  who  are 
going  abroad  to  wait  till  the  storm  blows  over,  with  the 

•  Streightoff,  The  Standard  of  Living,  p.  in. 


36o  IMMIGRATION 

expectation  of  returning  again  —  true  birds  of  passage 
outward  bound.  There  were  133,251  of  these.  The 
balance  were  aliens  in  transit,  and  aliens  who  had  been 
in  this  country  on  a  visit,  or  only  for  a  short  time.  In 
1909  there  were  751,786  immigrant  aliens  and  192,449 
nonimmigrant  aliens.  Of  the  nonimmigrants  138,680 
were  true  birds  of  passage  according  to  the  above  dis- 
tinction —  a  large  number  and  almost  exactly  equal  to 
the  number  of  departing  birds  of  passage  in  the  previous 
year.  The  storm  is  over,  and  they  have  come  back. 
The  departures  in  that  year  numbered  225,802  emi- 
grant and  174,590  nonemigrant  aliens.  These  numbers 
are  considerably  smaller  than  in  the  previous  year,  but 
are  still  large,  showing  that  the  effects  of  the  crisis  were 
still  felt  in  the  early  part  of  this  fiscal  year.  The  number 
of  birds  of  passage  among  the  nonemigrant  aUens,  80,151, 
is  much  smaller  than  in  the  previous  year.  In  1910  there 
were  1,041,570  immigrant  aliens  and  156,467  nonim- 
migrant aliens.  In  the  latter  class,  the  number  of  birds 
of  passage,  94,075,  again  approximated  the  corresponding 
class  among  the  departures  of  the  previous  year.  The 
departures  in  1910  were  202,436  emigrant  aliens  and 
177,982  nonemigrant  aliens,  of  whom  89,754  were 
birds  of  passage.  This  probably  comes  near  to  repre- 
senting the  normal  number  of  this  class.  A  careful 
study  of  these  figures  confirms  the  conclusion  reached 
above.  While  a  crisis  in  this  country  does  undoubtedly 
increase  the  number  of  departing  aliens,  both  emigrant 
and  nonemigrant,  and  eventually  cuts  down  the  number 
of  arrivals,  the  total  effect  is  much  smaller  than  is  usually 
supposed,  and  taken  in  connection  with  the  fact  that  the 
stream  of  arrivals  is  never  wholly  checked,  the  influence  of 
emigration  incasing  the  labor  market  is  absolutely  trifling. 


CONDITIONS   AFFECTING  THE   COUNTRY     361 

Comparing  the  different  races  in  regard  to  their  readi- 
ness to  respond  to  changes  in  economic  conditions,  it 
appears  that  the  Italians  stand  easily  at  the  head,  and  the 
Slavs  come  second.  In  1908,  in  the  traffic  between  the 
United  States  and  Italy,  there  was  a  net  loss  in  the  popu- 
lation of  this  country  of  79,966 ;  in  1909  a  net  gain  of 
94,806.  In  the  traffic  between  this  country  and  Austria- 
Hungary  there  was  a  loss  in  1908  of  5463  ;  in  1909  a  gain 
of  48,763.  In  the  traffic  with  the  Russian  Empire  and 
Finland  there  was  a  gain  of  104,641  in  1908  and  a  gain  of 
94,806  in  1909.  This  shows  how  unique  are  the  motives 
and  conditions  which  control  the  emigration  from  the 
two  latter  countries.  The  emigrants  from  there,  partic- 
ularly the  Jews,  come  to  this  country  to  escape  intoler- 
able conditions  on  the  other  side,  not  merely  for  the  sake 
of  economic  betterment.  They  prefer  to  endure  any- 
thing in  this  country,  rather  than  to  return  to  their  old 
home,  even  if  they  could. 

Hand  in  hand  with  the  economic  disparity  caused  by 
immigration  has  come  an  increasing  social  stratification.^ 
This  is  based  partly  on  wealth,  partly  on  race.  Already 
certain  occupations  are  regarded  as  the  special  province 
of  certain  nationahties,  and  native  parents  recoil  from 
the  prospect  of  having  their  children  enter  them  to  work 
side  by  side  with  the  ahens.  Only  the  beginnings  of  these 
changes  are  as  yet  manifest,  and  no  one  can  foretell  what 
the  outcome  will  be.  But  even  the  beginnings  must  give 
us  pause.  There  can  be  no  more  pernicious  social  classifi- 
cation in  a  nation  than  one  based  on  race.  Distinctions 
resting  on  wealth,  religion,  or  education  can  be  overcome, 
potentially  at  least.  Distinctions  of  birth  affect  only  a 
small  proportion  of  a  society,  and  exist  only  in  nations 

•  See  quotation  from  Professor  Taussig,  footnote,  p.  309. 


362  IMMIGRATION 

long  habituated  to  them.  But  distinctions  of  race 
affect  the  entire  population  arc  fundamental,  and  can 
never  be  obliterated  except  as  assimilation  is  so  perfect 
that  race  is  forgotten.  No  effort  of  the  individual  can 
blot  out  his  racial  identification.  The  most  familiar 
example  yet  developed  in  the  United  States  is  that  of  the 
Hebrews.  However  sincerely  we  may  admire  their  fine 
racial  traits,  however  closely  we  may  associate  with  in- 
dividuals of  the  race,  we  cannot  deny  that  they  consti- 
tute a  separate  body  in  our  population  in  many  respects.^ 
Summer  hotels  are  closed  to  them,  or  else  other  people 
avoid  those  resorts.  Americans  move  out  of  the  sections 
of  cities  where  they  are  moving  in.  Select  clubs  are 
closed  to  them.  It  is  an  indictment  against  the  American 
people  that  these  things  are  so.  We,  who  pose  as  the 
friends  of  all  races,  however  downtrodden  and  despised, 
should  be  ready  to  take  them  into  equality  with  us  when 
they  seek  refuge  on  our  shores.  Both  Hebrews  and 
Americans  may  resent  the  bald  statement  of  such  facts. 
Can  we  deny  their  truth  ? 

Nor  is  it  only  in  high  society,  nor  only  among  Americans, 
that  this  friction  is  felt.  In  the  slums  of  our  cities  bitter 
feeling  exists  between  the  Italians  and  the  Jews.-  Nor 
is  racial  antagonism  confined  to  any  two  or  three  races.^ 
Employers  of  labor  find  it  wholly  expedient  to  arrange 
their  workers  in  groups  of  the  same  nationahty."*  Aus- 
tria-Hungary is  an  example  of  the  conditions  that  may 

'  Israel  Zangwill,  in  an  address  before  the  Universal  Races  Congress  in  London, 
said,  "  Even  in  America,  with  its  lip-formula  of  brotherhood,  a  gateless  Ghetto  has 
been  created  by  the  isolation  of  the  Jews  from  the  general  social  life,"  Spiller,  G., 
op.  cil.,  p.  270.      Cf.  also  Peters,  Madison  C,  The  Jews  in  America,  pp.  123-138. 

^  "The  Jews  associate  little  with  other  nationalities,  principally  from  the 
choice  of  the  other  nationalities."     Bushee,  F.  A.,  City  Wilderness,  p.  42. 

'  Cf.  Americans  in  Process,  pp.  61-63,  157. 

*  Jenks  and  Lauck,  Immigration  Problem,  p.  172. 


CONDITIONS   AFFECTING   THE   COUNTRY     363 

result  when  too  many  jarring  nationalities  are  included 
within  a  national  territory.  But  the  racial  groups  in 
Austria-Hungary  do  not  compare  in  diversity  with  those 
which  are  gradually  forming  in  the  United  States. 

In  the  political  aspects  of  the  immigration  situation 
there  has  been  a  peculiar  reversal  of  public  opinion  in  the 
last  three  quarters  of  a  century.  In  the  days  of  the 
Native  Americans  and  the  Know-nothings,  the  un- 
easiness was  mainly  due  to  the  fear  that  too  many  aliens 
would  acquire  the  rights  of  citizenship.  Then  it  was  the 
naturalized  foreigner  who  was  the  undesirable.  Now- 
adays, the  fear  is  that  the  foreigners  will  ignore  the 
priviliges  of  citizenship,  and  a  high  percentage  of  natu- 
ralization is  a  test  of  desirability  in  any  foreign  group. 
This  change  may  be  attributed  to  a  change  in  the  situa- 
tion of  the  United  States,  and  to  a  difference  in  the 
character  and  causes  of  immigration.  During  the  first 
half  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  United  States  was 
essentially  a  new  country.  Political  questions  were 
predominant,  and  the  memory  of  the  men  who  fell  in 
the  fight  for  freedom  was  still  fresh  in  the  minds  of  their 
sons.  The  immigrants  of  the  period,  on  the  other  hand, 
were  actuated  to  a  large  extent  by  the  desire  for  political 
freedom,  and  were  keen  to  secure  all  the  power  possible 
in  this  country.  At  the  present  time,  the  predominating 
interests  are  wholly  economic,  and  even  the  political 
questions  of  the  day  have  an  economic  flavor.  At  the 
same  time,  the  motives  of  the  immigrants  are  almost 
wholly  economic.  So  the  jealousy  between  native  and 
foreigner  now  concerns  itself  mainly  with  the  industrial 
relations,  and  anything  which  indicates  an  inclination  on 
the  part  of  the  alien  to  ally  himself  permanently  with 
the  interests  of  the  country  is  welcomed.     The  tempo- 


364  IMMIGRATION 

rary  immigrant  was  an  almost  unknown  quantity  in  the 
old  days. 

The  naturalization  laws  of  the  United  States  have 
undergone  only  slight  modifications  in  the  past  hundred 
years. ^  The  main  provisions  of  the  present  laws  are  as 
follows  :  In  order  to  become  a  citizen  of  the  United  States 
an  ahen  must  follow  out  the  following  method  of  pro- 
cedure :  At  least  two  years  before  he  is  admitted  he  must 
file  a  preliminary  declaration  of  intention.  To  do  this 
he  must  be  at  least  eighteen  years  old.  This  declaration 
shall  state  that  it  is  his  bona-fide  intention  to  become  a 
citizen  of  the  United  States,  and  to  renounce  all  other 
allegiance  to  a  foreign  power,  and  shall  set  forth  his 
name,  age,  occupation,  personal  description,  place  of 
birth,  last  foreign  residence  and  allegiance,  date  of 
arrival  in  the  United  States,  name  of  the  vessel,  if  any, 
by  which  he  came,  and  present  place  of  residence  in  the 
United  States.  Not  less  than  two  years  nor  more  than 
seven  years  after  he  has  made  application,  he  shall  present 
a  petition  in  writing,  signed  in  his  own  handwriting,  stat- 
ing the  essential  facts  about  himself,  including  his  declara- 
tion of  allegiance  to  the  United  States,  and  disclaiming 
belief  in  anarchy,  or  belief  in  or  practice  of  polygamy. 

This  petition  shall  be  verified  by  at  least  two  credible 
witnesses,  who  are  citizens  of  the  United  States,  who  shall 
state  that  they  have  known  the  apphcant  to  be  a  resident 
of  the  United  States  for  a  period  of  at  least  five  years  con- 
tinuously, and  of  the  state  or  territory  at  least  one  year 
immediately  preceding,  and  that  they  have  personal 
knowledge  of  his  good  moral  character  and  general  fit- 
ness to  become  a  citizen  of  the  United  States. 

'  Cf.  Franklin,  Frank  G.,  Legislative  History  of  Naturalization  in  the  United 
States. 


CONDITIONS   AFFECTING   THE   COUNTRY     365 

With  this  petition  is  filed  a  certificate  from  the  Depart- 
ment of  Commerce  and  Labor,  stating  the  date,  place, 
and  manner  of  his  arrival,  and  also  his  declaration  of 
intention.  He  shall  swear  in  open  court  his  allegiance 
to  the  United  States  and  renounce  all  other  allegiance. 

In  accordance  with  a  recent  law,  no  alien  can  now  be 
naturaUzed  without  an  ability  to  speak  the  English 
language,  unless  he  has  made  entry  upon  the  public 
lands  of  the  United  States.  No  person  may  be  natu- 
ralized within  thirty  days  preceding  the  holding  of  a 
general  election  in  the  territorial  jurisdiction  of  the  court. 
Chinese  are  not  admissible  to  citizenship. 

A  woman  who  is  married  to  a  citizen  of  the  United 
States  is  herself  a  citizen,  provided  she  herself  might  be 
legally  naturalized.  This  provision  has  been  the  sub- 
ject of  considerable  attention  lately  on  account  of  the 
practice  of  women  engaged  in  the  white-slave  traffic 
marrying  a  citizen  in  order  to  avoid  deportation.  The 
Commissioner  General  in  his  report  for  19 10  recom- 
mended that  a  more  definite  statement  be  made  of  this 
clause,  admitting  of  no  doubt  as  to  its  interpretation. 

Children  of  naturalized  citizens  who  were  under  the 
age  of  twenty-one  at  the  time  of  the  naturalization  of 
their  parents,  if  dwelling  in  the  United  States,  are  con- 
sidered citizens,  as  are  children  of  citizens,  born  outside 
of  the  United  States. 

If  any  alien  who  has  received  a  certificate  of  citizen- 
ship shall,  within  five  years  thereafter,  go  to  the  land  of 
his  nativity  or  to  any  other  foreign  country,  and  take  up 
permanent  residence  therein,  it  shall  be  deemed  evidence 
of  his  lack  of  intention  to  become  a  permanent  citizen 
of  the  United  States  at  the  time  of  filing  his  application, 
and  warrants  the  canceling  of  his  certificate. 


366 


IMMIGRATION 


According  to  the  regulations  of  September  15,  1910, 
clerks  of  courts  are  instructed  not  to  receive  declara- 
tions of  intention  or  file  petitions  for  naturalization 
from  other  aliens  than  white  persons,  and  persons  of 
African  nativity  or  of  African  descent. 

Jurisdiction  to  naturalize  ahens  is  conferred  on  the 
following  courts :  United  States  circuit  and  district 
courts  in  any  state,  United  States  district  courts  for  the 
territories,  the  supreme  court  of  the  District  of  Columbia, 
and  the  United  States  courts  for  the  Indian  territory ; 
also  all  courts  of  record  in  any  state  or  territory,  having 
a  seal,  a  clerk,  and  jursidiction  in  actions  at  law  or 
equity,  or  law  and  equity,  in  which  the  amount  in  con- 
troversy is  unlimited. 

Since  the  estabHshment  of  the  division  of  naturali- 
zation by  the  act  of  June  29,  1906,  the  business  of  nat- 
uralization has  been  in  the  hands  of  the  Bureau  of 
Immigration  and  NaturaHzation. 

The  statistics  of  naturaHzation  for  the  five  years  1908- 
191 2  are  as  follows: 


Year 


1908 
1909 
1910 
191I 
1912 


Declarations 

Petitions 

FILED 

FILED 

137,229 

44,029 

145,794 

43,161 

167,226 

55,038 

186,157 

73-644 

169,142 

95,627 

Certificates 

GRANTED 


25,963 
38,372 
39,206 1 

55,329 
69,965 


1  Repts.  Comm.  Gen.  of  Imm. 


In  addition  to  the  certificates  granted  there  were,  in 
191 2,  9635  certificates  denied.  These  were  for  a  variety 
of  causes,  the  most  important  of  which  was  failure  of 


CONDITIONS   AFFECTING  THE   COUNTRY     367 

the  petitioners  to  prosecute  them,  so  that  they  were 
stricken  from  the  docket.  Of  those  which  were  actu- 
ally refused  the  largest  single  cause  was  incompetent 
witnesses. 

There  has  been  a  large  amount  of  fraud  and  trickery 
in  connection  with  naturalization,  and  presumably  it  has 
not  wholly  ceased.  This  has  been  due  partly  to  a  lax 
attitude  on  the  part  of  some  of  the  court  officials,  and 
partly  to  the  physical  impossibility  of  giving  proper 
attention  to  the  number  of  candidates  who  apply,  with 
the  existing  machinery.  There  is  a  story  of  one  judge 
in  New  York  City  who  issued  nearly  seven  thousand 
papers  in  October,  1891,  at  the  rate  of  two  a  minute.^ 
Many  states  have  been  very  lax  in  their  requirements  for 
voting.  In  some  states  aliens  have  been  allowed  to 
vote  in  both  state  and  federal  elections,  sometimes  after 
a  residence  of  only  six  months.^ 

Even  where  naturalization  is  desired  by  recent  im- 
migrants, it  is  not  always  for  the  most  commendable 
reasons.  Sometimes  the  motive  is  the  desire  for  a  better 
chance  of  securing  employment,^  sometimes  the  facilitat- 
ing of  entrance  into  the  United  States  after  a  trip  abroad. 
Natives  of  some  foreign  countries,  particularly  Turkey, 
have  come  to  the  United  States  with  the  express  inten- 
tion of  securing  citizenship,  in  order  to  return  to  their 
native  land,  and  carry  on  business  under  the  protection 
of  the  American  flag,  which  carries  with  it  greater 
guarantees  than  their  own.  A  special  law,  passed  to  put 
a  stop  to  such  practices  as  these,  provides  that  when  a 
naturaUzed  alien  has  resided  two  years  in  the  foreign 

'  Hall,  p.  F.,  op.  cit.,  p.  194. 

'^  Ibid.,  p.  186.  For  a  general  discussion  of  these  abuses,  sec  Hall,  op.  cit., 
Ch.  IX. 

'  American  in  Process,  p.  157. 


368  IMMIGRATION 

state  from  which  he  came,  or  five  years  in  any  other  for- 
eign state,  he  forfeits  his  citizenship.^ 

Of  all  foreign  races,  the  Irish  have  taken  by  far  the 
largest  place  in  politics  in  this  country.  According  to 
Professor  Commons,  the  "ward  boss"  is  the  logical 
product  of  the  mixture  of  nationahties  in  the  various 
divisions  of  a  city,  and  the  Irishman  is  the  logical  man 
for  the  work.^  "The  Irishman  has  above  all  races 
the  mixture  of  ingenuity,  firmness,  human  sympathy, 
comradeship,  and  daring  that  makes  him  the  amalga- 
mator of  races."  ^  Possibly  a  sense  of  humor  ought  to 
be  added  to  these  qualifications.  In  the  eyes  of  Pro- 
fessor Commons,  such  a  system  makes  it  the  merest 
chance  if  the  best  man  is  elected,  and  subverts  our 
whole  system  of  representative  government."*  It  seems 
beyond  question  that  the  existence  of  separate  racial 
groups  in  a  community,  each  with  its  own  prejudices 
and  group  loyalty,  must  have  a  very  disturbing  influence 
on  the  course  of  elections.  Measures  become  of  much 
less  import  than  men  in  the  minds  of  the  voters,  and  in 
the  choice  of  men  race  rather  than  fitness  is  often  the 
determining  element. 

1  Act  of  March  2,  1907.       ^  Cf.  Champemowne,  Henry,  The  Boss,  Ch.  XIII. 
'  Commons,  J.  R.,  Races  and  Immigrants  in  America,  p.  182. 
*  Cf.  throughout,  Commons,  op.  cil.,  Ch.  VIII. 


CHAPTER   XVII 

THE   NEW   PROBLEM   OF   IMMIGRATION 

It  was  stated  on  an  earlier  page  that  the  immigration 
situation,  in  most  of  its  important  characteristics, 
presents  an  entirely  new  aspect  to  the  men  of  this  genera- 
tion, and  that  these  changes  might  be  looked  for  under 
six  general  heads,  as  follows :  race,  volume,  distribution, 
economic  condition  of  the  United  States,  native  birth 
rate  and  quality  of  the  immigrants.  We  are  now  pre- 
pared to  consider  the  truth  of  this  assertion. 

In  regard  to  race,  nothing  further  need  be  said.  Suffi- 
cient facts  are  already  before  the  reader  to  establish  the 
fact  that  the  racial  aspect  of  the  situation  has  undergone 
a  sweeping  and  significant  change  in  the  last  thirty  years. 
The  change  in  volume  has  naturally  been  one  of  degree, 
not  of  kind.  But  the  change  in  degree  has  been  a  pro- 
found one  —  more  so  than  is  often  admitted.  It  has 
been  pointed  out  occasionally,  as  a  sedative  to  the  fears 
aroused  by  the  immense  immigration  of  the  twentieth 
century,  that  while  the  positive  immigration  has  in- 
creased tremendously,  it  has  not  increased  at  so  great  a 
rate  as  the  population  of  the  country.  The  ratio  be- 
tween immigration  and  total  population  was  higher  in 
the  early  fifties  and  early  eighties  than  at  any  subse- 
quent period.  The  assumption  is  that  if  we  could  suc- 
cessfully assimilate  the  immigrants  of  the  earlier  period, 
we  certainly  ought  to  be  able  to  take  care  of  those  of 
to-day.     But  the  question  of  assimilation  depends  not 

2B  369 


370  IMMIGRATION 

only  upon  the  ratio  of  immigrants  to  total  population, 
but  upon  the  proportion  of  foreign-born  population  al- 
ready in  the  country.  In  this  connection  the  following 
figures  are  significant.  The  number  of  foreign-born 
to  100,000,  native-bom  in  the  population  of  the  coun- 
try at  the  time  of  the  last  seven  censuses  was  as  follows  : 

1850 10,715  1890 17,314 

i860 15,157  1900 15,886 

1870 16,875  1910 17,227 

1880 15,365 

It  thus  appears  that  the  proportion  of  foreign-born, 
even  at  the  time  of  the  census  of  1900,  after  a  decade  of 
very  sUght  immigration,  was  much  higher  than  at  the  time 
of  the  beginning  of  large  immigration,  while  the  last  cen- 
sus, after  the  enormous  immigration  of  the  past  ten  years, 
shows  a  proportion  of  foreign-born  higher  than  at  any 
previous  census,  except  that  of  1890.  Now  it  is  the  pro- 
portion of  foreign-bom  to  native-born  which  determines 
the  assimilating  power  of  the  nation,  so  that  without 
this  correction  the  comparison  between  immigration  and 
total  population  is  inadequate  and  misleading.  It  is 
as  if  a  fireman  whose  steam  boiler  lacked  a  safety  valve 
was  warned  that  his  gauge  was  going  up  more  and  more 
rapidly  all  the  time,  and  he  rephed,  "Never  mind,  the 
pressure  is  not  coming  in  so  fast,  compared  to  what  I 
already  have,  as  it  was  awhile  ago." 

Another  circumstance  which  affects  the  ability  of  the 
country  to  assimilate  immigrants,  and  in  which  there 
has  been  a  marked  change  during  the  history  of  immi- 
gration, is  the  ratio  of  men  to  land,  upon  which  much 
emphasis  has  already  been  laid.  As  the  amount  of  un- 
appropriated and  unsettled  land  diminishes  in  any 
country,  the  need  of  new  settlers  also  dmiinishes,  while 


THE   NEW   PROBLEM   OF   IMMIGRATION    371 


the  difficulty  of  assimilation  and  the  possible  evils  re- 
sulting from  foreign  population  proportionally  increase. 
In  the  case  of  the  United  States  the  first  and  simplest 
comparison  to  make  is  that  between  immigration  and 
the  total  territory  of  the  nation.  In  this,  as  in  the  sub- 
sequent comparisons,  it  will  be  desirable  to  leave  Alaska 
out  of  consideration.  The  enormous  extent  of  that 
inhospitable  region,  to  which  practically  none  of  our  im- 
migrants ever  find  their  way,  if  included  in  the  reckon- 
ing, would  simply  confuse  the  issue.  The  gross  area  of 
the  United  States,  exclusive  of  Alaska  and  Hawaii,  at 
the  time  of  the  different  censuses,  has  been  as  follows : 
1790  and  1800,  827,844  square  miles;  1810,  1,999,775 
square  miles;  1820,  2,059,043  square  miles;  1830  and 
1840,  the  same;  1850,  2,980,959  square  miles;  i860 
down  to  the  present,  3,025,600  square  miles. ^ 

Estimating  the  immigration  before  1820  at  10,000  per 
year,  and  using  the  ofi&cial  figures  after  that  date,  we 
find  that  the  immigration  by  decades  from  1791  to  1910 


was  as  lollows 
1791-1800  .    , 

• 

100,000 

1851-1860  .     . 

.     2,511,060 

1801-1810  .    . 

100,000 

1S61-1870  .     . 

•     2,377,279 

1811-1820  .    . 

.       98,385 

1871-1S80  .     . 

2,812,191 

1821-1830  .    . 

•     143,439 

1881-1890  .     . 

•     5,246,613 

1831-1840  .    . 

•     599,125 

1891-1900  . 

•    3,687,564 

1841-1850  .    . 

•  1,713,251 

1900-1910  . 

■    8,795,386 

Combining  these  two  sets  of  figures,  it  appears  that  for 
each  immigrant  coming  to  this  country  during  the  dec- 
ades specified,  there  was  at  the  close  of  the  decade  the 
following  number  of  square  miles  of  territor}-  in  the 
United  States : 

'Twelfth  Census,  Vol.  I,  p.  xxxii.  Includes  land  and  water.  Figures  foi 
land  area  alone  are  given  in  .1  Century  of  Population  Grouth,  p.  54.  Taking 
land  in  this  restricted  sense  would  not  materially  affect  the  conclusions. 


372  IMMIGRATION 


1800  .  .  . 

.  .  .  8.278 

i860 

I8I0  .  .  . 

.  .  .  19.998 

1870 

1820  .  .  . 

.  .  .  20.927 

1880 

1830  .  .  . 

.  •  .  14-355 

1890 

1840  .  .  . 

•  •  •   3-437 

1900 

1850  .  .  . 

•  .  •   1-739 

1910 

1.205 
1-273 

1.076 

•570 
.824 

•347 


This  table  illustrates  forcibly  the  fact  that  from  the 
point  of  view  of  the  need  of  new  settlers  immigration 
at  the  present  time  is  a  vastly  different  matter  from 
what  it  has  ever  been  before  in  the  history  of  our 
country.  This  impression  is  strengthened  if  we  make 
another  comparison,  which  is  even  more  significant  for 
our  purposes,  viz.  the  relation  of  immigration  to  the 
public  domain,  that  is,  to  the  land  which  still  remains 
unclaimed  and  open  to  settlement.  If  there  were  still 
large  tracts  of  good  land  lying  unutilized,  and  available 
for  settlement,  as  there  have  been  in  other  periods  of  our 
history,  we  could  take  comfort  in  the  thought  that  as 
soon  as  the  incoming  ahens  caused  too  great  a  congestion 
in  any  region,  the  surplus  inhabitants  would  overflow,  by 
a  natural  process,  into  the  less  thickly  settled  districts. 
Let  us  consider  what  the  facts  have  to  show  in  this 
respect. 

In  i860  there  were,  as  nearly  as  can  be  estimated, 
939,173,057  acres  of  land  lying  unappropriated  and  un- 
reserved in  the  public  domain.  In  1906  there  were  424,- 
202,732  acres  of  such  land,  representing  the  leavings, 
after  all  the  best  land  had  been  chosen.  In  other  words, 
for  each  immigrant  entering  the  country  during  the 
decade  ending  i860  there  were  374  acres  in  the  pubHc 
domain,  at  least  half  of  it  extremely  valuable  farm  land. 
In  1906,  for  each  immigrant  entering  during  the  pre- 
vious ten  years,  there  were  68.9  acres,  almost  wholly 
arid  and  worthless. 


THE   NEW   PROBLEM   OF   IMMIGRATION    373 

The  fact  that  the  immigrants  in  this  country  do  not, 
to  any  great  extent,  take  up  this  unclaimed  public  land 
does  not  destroy  the  significance  of  this  comparison. 
As  long  as  there  was  a  strong  movement  of  the  native 
population  westward,  it  was  not  so  much  a  matter  of 
concern,  if  large  numbers  of  foreigners  were  entering  the 
Atlantic  seaboard.  And  this  was  exactly  the  case 
during  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century.  This 
was  the  period  of  the  great  internal  migration  to  the 
new  lands  of  the  Middle  West.  In  point  of  fact  also,  at 
this  time,  many  of  these  pioneers  were  actually  immi- 
grants. It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say  that  nothing 
comparable  to  this  is  going  on  at  the  present  time.  The 
frontier,  which  has  had  such  a  determining  influence  on 
our  national  Hfe,  is  a  thing  of  the  past.  Of  the  424,202,- 
732  acres  remaining  in  the  public  domain  in  1906,  only 
a  very  small  part  consisted  of  valuable  farm  lands,  such 
as  existed  in  great  abundance  when  the  Homestead  Act 
was  passed  in  1862.  Evidence  of  this  fact  is  furnished 
by  the  act  recently  passed  allowing  homesteads  of  640 
acres  to  be  taken  up  in  certain  sections  of  Nebraska, 
where  it  is  impossible  for  a  man  to  make  a  Hving  from 
less.  Not  only  are  the  incoming  hordes  of  aliens  not 
now  counterbalanced  by  an  important  internal  migra- 
tion, but  there  is  an  actual  movement,  of  noteworthy 
dimensions,  of  ambitious  young  farmers  from  the  United 
States  to  the  new  and  cheaper  wheat  lands  in  Canada. 

This  set  of  conditions  may  be  stated  in  another  way  by 
saying  that  the  United  States  has  changed  from  an 
agricultural  to  a  manufacturing  and  commercial  nation.^ 
In  the  early  nineteenth  century  the  rural  family  was  the 

'  This  change  has  been  furthered,  according  to  Professor  Taussig,  by  immi- 
gration.    Principles  of  Economics,  Vol.  I,  p.  s-ts. 


374  IMMIGRATION 

typical  one,  to-day  it  is  the  urban  family.  Then  the 
simplicity  and  independence  of  the  farm  gave  character 
to  the  national  Hfc ;  to-day  it  is  the  complexity  and  arti- 
ficiality of  the  city  which  govern.  The  nineteenth 
century  was  a  period  of  expansion.  Particularly  in  the 
earlier  part  of  it  was  the  subduing  of  new  land  the  funda- 
mental consideration  of  national  development.  This 
was  the  period  of  internal  improvements,  the  building 
of  roads  and  canals,  and  later  of  railroads.  It  was  the 
adolescence  of  the  American  people.  At  such  a  period 
the  great  demand  is  for  accessions  of  population,  and  it 
is  no  wonder  that  many  of  the  writers  of  that  day  were 
frank  in  their  demands  for  the  encouragement  of  immi- 
gration. And  even  in  the  thirties  and  forties,  though 
the  miserable  shipping  conditions  and  the  large  number 
of  incoming  paupers  aroused  a  countercurrent  of  opin- 
ion, still  the  immigrants  found  a  logical  place  on  the  great 
construction  works  of  the  period,  as  well  as  on  the  vacant 
arable  lands. 

This  period  is  past.  The  labors  of  the  tj^ical  alien 
are  not  now  expended  on  the  railroad,  the  canal,  or  the 
farm,  but  in  the  mines  and  foundries,  the  sweatshops 
and  factories.  The  immigrants  of  to-day  are  meeting 
an  economic  demand  radically  different  from  that  of  a 
century  or  half  a  century,  yes,  we  may  say  a  quarter  of 
a  century  ago.^ 

This  change  is  further  exemplified  by  the  increased 
concentration  of  population  in  cities  which  the  United 

^  The  importance  of  this  change  is  emphasized  by  noting  Professor  Guy  S.  Cal- 
lender's  statement,  "  Perhaps  the  most  important  circumstance  affecting  Amer- 
ican society  is  the  fact  that  the  people  have  always  been  in  contact  with  unoc- 
cupied lands."  Economic  History  oj  the  United  Stales,  p.  667.  Professor  Taussig 
points  out  also,  in  this  connection,  that  unskilled  labor  is  more  needed  when 
a  plant  is  being  constructed  than  when  it  is  being  utilized.  Principles  of  Eco- 
nomics, Vol.  IT,  p.  15.],  footnote. 


THE   NEW   PROBLEM   OF   IMMIGRATION    375 

States  has  witnessed  in  the  past  century.  In  1790 
there  were  only  6  cities  in  the  United  States  with  over 
8000  population  each,  containing  3.4  per  cent  of  the 
total  population.  In  1840  the  percentage  of  popula- 
tion in  cities  of  this  size  was  still  only  8.4.  But  in  1900 
there  were  545  cities  of  over  8000,  counting  among 
their  inhabitants  33.1  per  cent  of  the  total  population. 
In  other  words,  the  ratio  between  city  and  country 
dwellers  (taking  the  city  of  8000  as  the  dividing  Hne) 
has  changed  from  one  to  twenty-eight  in  1790  to 
one  to  two  in  1900.  At  the  same  time  the  average 
density  of  population  of  the  country  as  a  whole  has  in- 
creased from  3.7  per  square  mile  in  1810  to  10.8  in  i860, 
17.3  in  1880,  and  25.6  in  1900. 

Hand  in  hand  with  these  changes  has  come  a  sweeping 
change  in  the  scale  of  production,  which  must  have  an 
important  bearing  on  the  immigration  situation.  The 
early  immigrants,  to  a  very  large  extent,  came  into  more 
or  less  close  personal  relations  with  their  employers, 
often  working  side  by  side  with  them  on  the  farm  or  in 
the  shop.  Now  foreigners  are  hired  by  the  thousands 
by  employers  whom  they  perhaps  never  see,  certainly 
never  have  any  dealings  with,  the  arrangements  being 
made  through  some  underling,  very  Hkely  a  foreigner 
himself.  Working  all  day  side  by  side  with  others  of 
their  own  race,  or  of  other  races  equally  foreign,  and 
going  home  at  night  to  crowded  dwellings,  inhabited 
by  aliens,  and  with  a  European  atmosphere,  the  modern 
immigrants  have  but  slight  commerce  with  anything  that 
is  calculated  to  inculcate  American  ideas  or  contribute 
any  real  Americanizing  influence. 

Mention  of  the  dccHning  native  birth  rate  in  the  United 
States  had  already  been  made  (Chapter  XI),  with  some 


376  IMMIGRATION 

consideration  of  the  causes  thereof.  The  fact  needs  to 
be  called  attention  to  in  this  connection  as  another  ele- 
ment in  the  changed  aspect  of  immigration.  It  is  un- 
fortunate that  our  census  figures  do  not  give  us  positive 
data  as  to  the  respective  birth  rates  of  the  native-born 
and  foreign-born,  so  that  we  have  to  rely  upon  estimates. 
All  of  these  estimates,  however,  agree  that  there  has  been 
a  marked  decline  in  the  rate  of  native  increase,  though 
the  causes  assigned  vary.  The  population  of  the  United 
States  in  1810  was  1.84  times  as  great  as  in  1790,  and 
that  of  1840,  1.77  times  as  great  as  twenty  years  earlier. 
Since  the  immigration  during  all  this  period  was  rel- 
atively slight,  this  increase  may  be  taken  as  represent- 
ing a  very  high  native  birth  rate.  In  1900,  in  spite  of 
the  large  element  of  foreign-born  with  a  high  birth  rate 
then  in  the  country,  and  the  large  immigration  of  the 
previous  twenty  years,  the  population  of  the  country  was 
only  1.52  times  as  large  as  in  1880.  This  must  represent 
a  tremendous  fall  in  the  native  birth  rate.  Mr.  S.  G. 
Fisher  has  estimated  that  the  rate  of  native  increase  by 
decades  has  fallen  from  33.76  per  cent  in  the  decade 
ending  1820  to  24.53  i^  the  decade  ending  1890.  Some 
eminent  authorities,  as  previously  mentioned,  are  of  the 
opinion  that  at  the  present  time  the  native  population 
of  parts,  if  not  the  whole,  of  New  England  is  not  even 
maintaining  itself.  Thus  our  present  immigrants  are 
being  received  by,  and  are  minghng  with,  a  people,  not 
vigorous  and  proHfic  as  in  the  early  days,  able  to  match 
the  crowds  of  ahens  with  a  host  of  native-born  offspring, 
but  weak  in  reproductive  power,  and  constantly  de- 
creasing in  the  ability  to  maintain  itself.  In  this  con- 
nection it  is  significant  that  during  the  last  intercensal 
decade  the  total  foreign-born  population  increased  30.7 


THE   NEW   PROBLEM   OF  IMMIGRATION    377 

per  cent,  while  the  native-born  population  increased  only 
19.5  per  cent.  This  fact,  in  connection  with  the  high 
birth  rate  of  our  now  large  foreign-born  population,  puts 
a  new  face  on  the  question  of  the  elimination  of  the 
native  stock- 
There  yet  remains  to  be  considered  the  matter  of  the 
quality  of  immigrants  to-day  as  compared  with  those  of 
past  generations.  In  regard  to  this  but  httle  can  be 
said  in  the  way  of  positive  declarations.  Quality  in  an 
immigrant  is  a  very  uncertain  matter,  and  differs  accord- 
ing to  the  individual  point  of  view  and  prejudices.  What 
may  seem  to  an  employer  of  labor  high  quality  in  an 
immigrant  may  appear  quite  the  reverse  in  the  eyes  of 
a  minister.  With  the  facts  of  immigration  in  mind,  each 
student  of  the  question  must  determine  for  himself 
whether  the  quality  of  our  present  immigrants  com- 
pares favorably  with  that  of  earlier  groups.  There  is, 
however,  one  consideration  to  which  attention  should 
be  directed  when  examining  changes,  which  has  mate- 
rially altered  the  character  of  immigration.  This  is  the 
selective  influence  of  the  act  of  immigration  itself,  upon 
those  who  are  to  come.  It  used  to  be  the  prevaihng  idea 
that  the  immigrant  represented  the  better  individuals 
of  his  race  or  class,  that  he  was  more  daring,  energetic, 
or  enterprising.  Traces  of  this  notion  are  still  very 
common.'  There  was,  moreover,  a  great  amount  of 
truth  in  this  view  during  earlier  periods  of  immigration. 
Many  of  the  migrations  of  two  or  three  centuries  ago 
were  inspired  by  religious  or  political  motives,  or  very 
often  by  a  combination  of  the  two.  Such  was  the  exodus 
of  the  Huguenots  from  France,  of  the  Palatines  from 

•Thus,   "ImmiBration  calls  for  couraRC  and  every  other  personal  quality 
which  makes  for  social  progress."     Lincoln,  The  City  of  the  Dinner  Pail,  p.  141. 


378  IMMIGRATION 

Germany,  the  Puritans  from  England,  the  Scotch-Irish 
from  Ireland.  In  such  cases  as  these,  emigration  im- 
plies strength  of  character,  independence,  firmness  of 
conviction,  moral  courage,  bravery,  hatred  of  oppression, 
etc.  Motives  such  as  these  played  no  small  part  in 
immigration  movements  even  as  late  as  the  middle  of 
the  nineteenth  century. 

More  than  this,  it  is  doubtless  true  that  the  earliest 
immigration  from  any  region  at  any  time  involves  a 
certain  degree  of  ambition,  independence,  courage, 
energy,  forethought,  all  of  those  characteristics  which 
are  required  in  the  individual  who  forsakes  the  known  for 
the  unknown,  the  familiar  for  the  untried,  the  stable  for 
the  unstable,  the  certain  though  hopeless  present  for 
the  hopeful  but  uncertain  future.  Such  were  the  early 
immigrants  to  this  country  from  every  land  —  not  north 
European  alone,  but  south  European.  They  possessed 
something  of  the  intrepidity  and  daring  of  pioneers. 
They  had  the  strength  of  character  to  break  the  shackles 
of  age-long  tradition  and  custom,  and,  taking  their 
destiny  in  their  hand,  seek  their  fortune  in  a  new  and 
unknown  land.  In  this  respect  all  new  immigration 
differs  from  all  established  immigration. 

But  all  this  is  now  a  thing  of  the  past.  Not  only  have 
the  religious  and  pohtical  motives  almost  wholly  disap- 
peared in  favor  of  the  economic  in  modern  immigration, 
but  the  European  immigrant  of  to-day  is  in  no  sense 
going  to  a  new  or  unknown  land,  when  he  embarks  for 
the  United  States.  American  hfe  and  conditions,  par- 
ticularly economic  conditions,  are  well  known  in  those 
sections  of  Europe  which  furnish  our  large  contingents  of 
immigration.  The  presidential  election,  the  panic,  the 
state  of  the  crops  in  the  United  States,  are  familiar  topics 


THE   NEW   PROBLEM   OF  IMMIGRATION    379 

of  conversation.^  Almost  every  individual  in  the  es- 
tablished currents  of  immigration  has  at  least  one  friend 
in  this  country.  Many  of  them  know  exactly  where 
they  are  going  and  what  they  are  going  to  do.  To  a 
host  of  them  the  change  is  no  greater  than  to  go  to  the 
next  village  in  their  native  land,  perhaps  less  so.  For 
as  likely  as  not,  just  as  many  of  their  friends  and  relatives 
are  awaiting  them  in  the  new  country  as  are  lamenting 
them  in  the  old. 

Neither  is  the  voyage  to-day,  bad  as  it  is,  beset  with 
the  uncertainties,  hardships,  and  perils  which  used  to 
characterize  it.  The  way  is  cleared  for  the  travelers 
at  every  step.  If  their  ticket  is  not  actually  supplied 
to  them  from  America,  probably  all  or  part  of  the  money 
with  which  it  is  purchased  came  from  America.  At 
least  they  may  now  secure  a  ticket  direct  from  a  European 
center  to  their  ultimate  destination  in  America,  and 
every  stage  of  the  journey  is  facilitated  by  the  ingenuity 
of  financially  interested  agents.  Induced  immigration 
has  always  existed  since  the  days  when  the  press  gangs 
in  the  coast  towns  of  England  carried  inducement  to  the 
point  of  abduction.  But  probably  never  in  the  history 
of  our  country  has  artificially  stimulated  immigration 
formed  so  large  a  part  of  the  whole  as  now.  There  is 
nothing,  therefore,  in  the  modern  conditions  of  immigra- 
tion which  serves  as  a  guaranty  of  high  quality  in  the 
immigrants. 

One  other  element  which  concerns  the  quality  of  the 
immigrant,  and  therefore  should  be  mentioned  in  this 
connection,  is  the  immense  increase  in  what  may  be 
designated  temporary  or  seasonal  immigration.  The 
prominence  of  this  type  of  movement  in  recent  years 

'  Sec  page  160. 


380  IMMIGRATION 

has    radically   modified    the    industrial    aspect    of     the 
situation.^ 

It  is  possible  that  some  of  the  changes  reviewed  above 
may  be  of  a  beneficial  character.  However  that  may 
be,  there  can  be  no  question  that,  taken  together,  they 
indicate  so  complete  an  alteration  in  the  circumstances 
surrounding  the  admission  of  aliens  to  this  country  as  to 
require  that  the  entire  immigration  situation  be  con- 
sidered in  the  light  of  present  conditions,  rather  than  of 
past  history.  The  old  stock  arguments,  pro  and  con, 
which  seem  to  have  stood  the  test  of  time,  need  to 
be  thoroughly  reviewed.  The  modern  immigrant  must 
be  viewed  in  the  setting  of  to-day.  Especially  must  it 
be  borne  in  mind  that  the  fact  —  if  such  it  be  —  that 
immigration  in  the  past  has  worked  no  injury  to  the 
nation,  and  has  resulted  in  good  to  the  immigrants,  by 
no  means  indicates  that  a  continuance  of  past  policy 
and  practice  in  the  matter  will  entail  no  serious  evil  con- 
sequences, nor  bring  about  disaster  in  the  future. 

1  Cf.  Bailey,  W.  B.,  "The  Bird  of  Passage,"  Am.  Jour,  of  Soc,  18 : 3,  p.  3gi. 


CHAPTER   XVIII 

THE  NATURE  OF  THE  PROBLEM 

Much  is  said  and  written  in  these  days  about  the 
''immigration  problem,"  yet  it  is  only  rarely  that  there 
appears  a  conscious  effort  to  prove  that  such  a  problem 
exists,  or  to  analyze  its  character.  Is  there  in  the  United 
States  an  immigration  problem  ?  If  so,  in  what  does  it 
consist  ?  To  answer  these  two  questions  is  the  purpose 
of  the  present  chapter. 

When  the  great  new  lands  of  the  Western  Hemisphere 
were  made  available  to  the  inhabitants  of  Europe  by  the 
efiforts  of  Columbus  and  the  later  explorers  and  dis- 
coverers, there  opened  up  before  humanity  tremendous 
possibiHties  of  advance.^  The  ratio  between  men  and 
land  was  changed  for  the  whole  civilized  world.  An 
enormous  area  of  fertile  country  was  presented  to  the 
nations  of  Europe,  by  which  the  operation  of  the  Mal- 
thusian  principles  was  checked.  Peoples  who  had 
reached  the  saturation  point  of  population  in  Europe 
were  given  the  opportunity  to  utilize  their  acquired 
arts  in  a  virgin  and  practically  uninhabited  region.  On 
account  of  the  difficulties  of  transportation,  and  the  con- 
sequent slow  settlement  of  the  new  world,  the  results  of 
this  great  alteration  were  only  tardily  developed.  In 
many  ways  the  entire  progress  of  civilization  during  the 
nineteenth  century  is  the  outward  expression  of  the 
transformation    in    conditions    which    then    ti)ok    place. 

'  See  Professor  Keller's  introduction  to  Fairchild's  Greek  Immigralion. 

381 


382  IMMIGRATION 

So  far  as  the  human  mind  can  anticipate,  nothing  of  a 
similar  nature  can  ever  happen  again  on  this  earth. 

To  the  people  of  the  new  nation  of  the  United  States, 
as  the  possessors  of  the  most  favored  portion  of  this  new 
territory,  was  intrusted  the  responsibility  of  utilizing  its 
marvelous  resources,  not  only  for  their  own  advantage, 
but  for  the  securing  of  the  greatest  and  most  permanent 
amehoration  of  the  living  conditions  of  the  whole  human 
family.  It  was  not  to  be  expected  that  our  forefathers 
should  have  completely  recognized  the  full  significance 
of  this  responsibility,  nor  have  undertaken  the  admin- 
istration of  it  with  a  degree  of  scientific  wisdom  which 
they  did  not  possess.  Their  past  experience  of  bad 
political  systems  enabled  them  to  frame  a  plan  of  govern- 
ment which  has  held  the  admiration  of  all  civilized 
people  down  to  the  very  present.  In  the  utilization  of 
the  material  resources  of  the  country,  however,  they 
had  no  past  experience  to  serve  as  a  guide.  No  other 
civilized  people  within  the  compass  of  human  history 
had  been  intrusted  with  such  a  profusion  of  virgin  re- 
sources, absolutely  open  to  exploitation.  There  is  no 
wonder  that  the  possibilities  of  the  country  seemed 
limitless,  and  that  men  proceeded  to  make  the  most  of 
them  to  serve  present  needs,  with  no  thought  of  what  the 
consequences  might  be  to  future  generations.  Forests 
were  cut  down,  mines  were  wastefully  worked,  rivers  were 
dammed,  natural  gas  was  burned  day  and  night,  the 
soil  was  cultivated  year  after  year  without  enrichment, 
and  when  exhausted,  abandoned.  In  our  modern  age  of 
conservation  we  are  beginning  to  realize  how  ruthlessly 
these  rich  treasures  have  been  squandered,  and  are 
making  eager  and  earnest  efforts  to  save  what  is  left. 

Something  of  the  same  sort  took  place  in  the  more 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  PROBLEM    383 

intangible  domain  of  population.  Into  the  minds  of 
the  less  than  four  million  people  who  were  enumerated 
in  the  United  States  in  1790,  even  the  thought  of  a  re- 
dundant population  could  hardly  enter.  The  one  great 
thing  that  seemed  to  be  needed  was  more  people,  and 
while  the  natural  increase  of  the  native  stock  seemed  to 
many  ample  to  meet  the  demands,  there  was  nevertheless 
a  hearty  welcome  to  all  sturdy  and  well-intentioned  aliens 
who  elected  to  establish  themselves  within  the  territory 
of  the  new  nation.  Especially  was  there  a  feehng  of 
sympathy  toward  those  who  came  seeking  refuge  from 
political  tyranny  or  oppression  in  the  nations  of  Europe. 
Thus  the  principle  of  an  open  door,  and  a  welcome  to 
the  "oppressed  and  downtrodden  of  all  races,"  be- 
came the  established  poHcy  of  the  nation,  and  as  decade 
succeeded  decade  acquired  all  the  power  and  authority 
of  tradition  and  usage.  As  a  consequence,  all  efforts 
to  control  or  regulate  the  ingress  of  aliens,  which  have 
been  incited  by  the  apparent  needs  of  the  situation,  have 
been  confronted  with  the  necessity  of  bearing  the  burden 
of  proof,  and  of  assailing  established  dogma.  This  has 
put  the  advocates  of  restriction  into  the  category  of 
"antis,"  and  has  laid  them  open  to  the  charge  of  nar- 
row-mindedness and  bigotry.  If  it  can  be  conceived 
that  the  United  States  should  have  been  in  her  present 
industrial  situation  when  she  first  began  to  frame  national 
poHcies,  it  is  wholly  probable  that  the  restrictionists 
would  have  been  considered  the  conservatives,  and  the 
advocates  of  free  immigration,  the  radicals. 

However  this  may  be,  the  fact  is  that  in  general  the 
open-door  policy  has  prevailed,  and  only  within  the  last 
generation  have  restrictive  laws  been  passed,  which 
have  served  merely  to  weed  out  the  manifestly  unde- 


384  IMMIGRATION 

sirables,  scarcely  to  diminish  in  any  significant  measure 
the  great  bulk  of  the  current.  The  resulting  transfer 
of  people  from  Europe  to  America  has  been  truly  phe- 
nomenal. In  the  period  of  years  from  1820  to  1912 
a  total  of  29,611,052  immigrants  came  to  the  United 
States.^  No  population  movement  of  equal  social  sig- 
nificance, and  comparable  in  volume,  has  ever  taken 
place  within  the  recorded  history  of  the  human  race. 
And  never  again,  so  far  as  the  human  eye  can  see,  can  it 
be  repeated,  when  the  heyday  of  immigration  to  the 
United  States  is  over.  It  is  inconceivable  that  such  a 
phenomenon  should  not  have  important  and  far-reaching 
effects  upon  every  country  concerned  in  the  movement. 
There  is,  then,  an  immigration  problem. 

But  just  what  is  the  problem  ?  The  answer  to  that 
question  depends  upon  the  point  of  view.  In  the  first 
place,  it  must  be  decided  whether  it  is  desirable  for 
nations  consciously  to  interfere  with,  and  try  to  control, 
such  a  natural  movement  as  this ;  secondly,  if  inter- 
ference is  to  be  undertaken,  whose  welfare  is  to  be  held 
prominently  in  view  —  in  other  words,  from  what  stand- 
point is  the  problem  to  be  attacked  ?  If  the  former  of 
these  queries  is  answered  in  the  negative,  the  problem 
remains  a  purely  academic  one  —  the  study  of  causes 
and  effects,  and  the  recording  of  conclusions  and  data, 
without  any  tehc  purpose  in  view.  No  programs, 
schemes,  or  systems  of  reform  can  emanate  from  such 
a  study.  If  answered  in  the  affirmative,  the  problem 
then  becomes  one  in  applied  sociology  —  perhaps  the 
most  complex  and  important  that  any  modern  nation 

1  A  slight  element  of  inaccuracy  is  given  to  these  figures  by  the  different 
methods  of  recording  immigration  at  different  periods.  Rept.  Imm.  Com., 
Stat.  Rev.,  Abs.,  p.  8. 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  PROBLEM    385 

has  ever  had  to  deal  with.  In  regard  to  the  second  part 
of  the  above  query,  it  is  to  be  noted  that  there  are  four 
possible  standpoints  open  to  choice.  First,  that  of  the 
United  States ;  second,  that  of  the  countries  of  source ; 
third,  that  of  the  immigrants ;  fourth,  that  of  humanity 
in  general.  There  are  possibihties  of  a  different  aspect 
of  the  problem  from  each  of  these  viewpoints.  Let  us 
consider  the  two  parts  of  this  query  in  turn. 

There  is  a  natural  and  deep-seated  reluctance  on  the 
part  of  every  careful  and  scientific  student  of  sociology 
to  advocate  the  regulation  of  any  great  human  activity 
according  to  any  man-made  scheme  or  formula.  The 
laws  of  nature  seem  so  much  safer  a  guide  than  any  plan 
which,  as  Professor  Summer  says,  some  one  has  thought 
out  in  bed.^  The  laissez-faire  doctrine  makes  a  great 
initial  appeal.  This  probably  accounts  in  large  measure 
for  its  great  vogue.  The  broad-minded  and  liberal  man 
says,  "What  can  be  better  or  more  just  than  to  let  each 
individual  work  out  his  own  destiny  in  the  way  that 
seems  to  him  best?"  Particularly  does  such  a  tre- 
mendous movement  as  modern  immigration  inspire  the 
student  with  feelings  of  reverential  awe,  rather  than  a 
desire  to  intermeddle.  It  is  such  a  gigantic  and  com- 
plex thing,  and  cuts  straight  across  all  social  relations 
with  such  an  inclusive  and  unsparing  sweep,  that  one 
can  never  know  what  the  unkno\vn  factors  are,  nor  what 
unforeseen  and  unexpected  developments  may  arise. 
Certainly  this  seems  one  of  the  things  that  had  better 
be  left  alone. 

But  as  we  look  at  the  world  around  us,  we  realize 
that  the  doctrine  of  laisscz-Jairc  has  proved  inadequate 
to  meet  the  conditions  of  modern  industrial  life,  and  has 

'  War  and  Other  Essays,  p.  169. 
2  C 


386  IMMIGIL\TION 

broken  down  under  the  strain.^  We  realize  that  self- 
interest,  even  enlightened  self-interest,  is  not  the  safest 
guide  for  the  individual  or  for  the  race.  We  recognize 
the  fact  that  the  safety  of  society  demands  that  men 
shall  not  be  allowed  to  do  as  they  please,  nor  to  go  where 
they  please.  The  law  places  many  restrictions  upon 
the  free  movements  of  men.  I  may  not  trespass  upon 
my  neighbor's  property ;  I  may  not  enter  pubhc  build- 
ings except  at  specified  times.  If  I  wish  to  visit  a  fever- 
stricken  and  quarantined  city,  I  either  am  not  allowed 
to  go,  or  I  am  prevented  from  coming  away  when  I  wish. 
These  are  famihar  and  trivial  illustrations,  but  they 
emphasize  the  fact  that  complete  laissez-faire  is  im- 
possible under  present  conditions  —  in  fact,  probably 
always  has  been.  A  host  of  other  instances  of  social 
legislation,  pure-food  laws,  trust  regulation,  etc.,  might 
be  invoked  to  establish  the  point,  were  it  necessary. 
The  whole  series  of  immigration  statutes,  increasing  in 
severity  from  1882  down  to  the  present,  are  evidence  of 
the  acceptance  of  this  principle  with  special  relation  to 
immigration.  The  question  is  not,  shall  we  have  regula- 
tion or  not,  but  how  much  and  what  kind  of  regulation 
shall  we  have?  The  doctrine  of  laissez-faire,  per  se, 
would  have  no  greater  weight  as  an  argument  against 
complete  suspension  of  immigration  than  it  would  have 
against  the  exclusion  of  contract  laborers. 

If  the  personal  inclinations  of  the  individual  lead  him 
to  prefer  to  regard  the  immigration  problem  in  the 
strictly  academic  light,  no  fault  can  be  found ;  but  the 
denial  of  the  propriety  of  suggesting  plans  of  control, 
the  demand  that  the  immigrants  be  let  alone,  represents 

1  Cf.  Kidd,  Benjamin,  Social  Evolution,  p.  237 ;  Ellis,  Havelock,  The  Task 
oj  Social  Hygiene,  pp.  2-4. 


THE   NATURE   OF   THE   PROBLEM  387 

an  obsolete  point  of  view.  Any  amount  of  regulation, 
which  proves  necessary  to  safeguard  the  interests  of 
society,  can  be  justified  in  the  light  of  modern  opinion 
and  practice. 

Furthermore,  it  is  to  be  observed  that  immigration 
will  not  be  let  alone.  It  has  already  been  demonstrated 
that  the  immigration  of  to-day  is  not  in  any  sense  a 
wholly  natural  movement.  It  is  stimulated  at  the  out- 
set, partly  by  disinterested  friends  and  relatives,  partly 
by  purely  selfish  transportation  interests.  It  is  sub- 
jected to  various  controls  all  along  the  way.  After  the 
immigrants  reach  this  country,  they  are  often,  for  a  long 
time,  in  almost  complete  subjection  to  the  padrone,  the 
contractor,  or  the  importer.  Once  again,  the  question  is 
not,  shall  immigration  be  a  natural  and  uncontrolled 
movement  or  not,  but  shall  it  be  controlled  by  greedy, 
selfish,  and  unscrupulous  individuals,  or  by  a  well- 
intentioned  government  ?  For  the  rest  of  this  book  we 
shall  take  the  position  that  the  immigration  problem  is 
one  of  applied  sociology,  and  that  immigration  is  a 
proper  subject  for  government  control,  by  such  means 
and  to  such  an  extent  as  the  most  careful  and  scientific 
study  shall  warrant. 

Most  problems  in  applied  sociology  have  to  do  with 
interests ;  certainly  the  problem  of  immigration  does. 
Having  answered  the  first  part  of  our  query  in  the  af- 
firmative, the  problem  now  expresses  itself  thus :  how 
shall  the  movement  of  ahens  from  foreign  countries  to 
the  United  States  be  so  controlled  as  to  further  the  best 
interests  of  somebody  ?  But  of  whom  ?  This  is  the 
second  part  of  our  query.  It  is  manifest  that  the  United 
States,  the  countries  of  source,  the  immigrants,  and 
humanity  in  general  all  have  interests  which  may  be 


388  IMMIGRATION 

affected  by  immigration,  that  these  interests  are  not 
always  harmonious  or  correlative,  but  that  they  may  be, 
and  in  some  cases  must  be,  in  direct  opposition  to  each 
other.  Any  one  who  has  opinions  on  the  subject  must 
make  it  plain,  to  himself  at  least,  which  of  these  interests 
he  regards  as  paramount,  which  of  these  standpoints  he 
proposes  to  assume.  Many  of  the  popular  arguments  on 
the  question  have  been  confused  by  the  unconscious 
effort  to  take  two  or  more  of  these  viewpoints  at  once. 
Each  of  these  viewpoints  is  legitimate,  and  has  argu- 
ments on  its  own  side,  and  no  one  should  be  blamed 
for  choosing  any  one.  Evidently  the  fourth  is  a  sort  of 
summation  and  balance  of  the  other  three.  It  will  be 
profitable  to  consider  the  first  three  in  turn ;  we  shall 
then  be  prepared  to  take  the  point  of  view  of  the  welfare 
of  humanity  in  general. 

What,  then,  are  the  arguments  for  and  against  immi- 
gration from  the  point  of  view  of  the  United  States  ? 
The  positive  arguments  for,  and  the  negative  arguments 
against,  immigration  center  around  the  question  whether 
the  United  States  needs  the  immigrants.  The  positive 
arguments  against,  and  the  negative  arguments  for, 
immigration  have  to  do  with  the  claim  that  immigration 
injures  the  United  States. 

The  argument  for  immigration  which,  if  not  the 
strongest  during  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century, 
was  probably  the  most  frequently  expressed,  was  the 
sentimental  one  which  exhibited  the  United  States  as 
the  natural  haven  of  refuge  for  the  oppressed  and  un- 
fortunate of  all  lands,  and  extended  a  hearty  welcome 
to  all  seekers  of  liberty  who  should  come.  This,  as 
has  been  mentioned,  was  natural  under  the  condi- 
tions of  the  time.     It  found  expression  in  such  words 


THE   NATURE    OF   THE    PROBLEM  389 

as  the  following,  appearing  in  a  magazine  in  the  year 

1855: 

*'If  the  physiologic  principle  we  have  endeavored  to 
establish  is  correct,  it  follows  that  America  pre-eminently 
owes  its  growth  and  prosperity  to  the  amalgamation  of 
foreign  blood.  To  cut  off,  therefore,  or  to  discourage 
its  influx,  will  be  to  check  the  current  from  which  our 
very  life  is  drawn.  The  better  course  is  evidently  to 
welcome  and  provide  for  this  tide  of  immigration,  rather 
than  to  oppose  and  turn  it  away ;  to  cherish  the  good  in- 
fluence it  brings,  and  regulate  the  bad,  rather  than  to 
trample  them  both  under  foot.  What,  though  the  pop- 
ulation which  is  annually  cast  upon  American  shores  is 
all  of  the  filthiest  and  most  degraded  kind  !  The  farmer 
might  as  well  complain  of  the  black  and  reeking  soil 
into  which  his  seed  is  dropped,  as  the  statesman  of  such 
materials  as  these.  .  .  .  Let  us  welcome  the  houseless 
and  the  naked  of  every  land  to  American  shores ;  in 
the  boundless  forests  of  the  north  and  the  south  there  is 
room  to  make  a  home  for  them  all.  Let  us  invite  the 
ill-fed  and  the  starving  of  every  grade  to  partake  of 
American  abundance ;  on  the  fertile  fields  of  the  west 
there  grows  corn  enough  to  feed  them  all.  Let  us  urge 
the  oppressed  and  the  down  trodden  of  every  name  to 
the  blessings  of  American  freedom ;  the  Star  Spangled 
Banner  is  broad  enough  to  cover,  and  the  eagle  that  sits 
over  it  is  strong  enough  to  defend,  them  all."  ^ 

Such  talk  as  this  is  so  thoroughly  out  of  date  as  to 
sound  almost  ridiculous  in  modern  ears.  In  fact,  the 
sentimental  argument  plays  but  little  part  in  the  present 
agitation,  for  the  reason  that  the  conditions  which  justify 

•  Df  Bou's's  Review,  i8:6g8,  "Sources  from  which  Great  Empires  Come." 
Signed  L. 


390  IMMIGRATION 

it  furnish  the  motive  to  an  insignificant  portion  of  our 
present  immigrants,  with  the  exception  of  the  Russian 
Jews. 

Two  other  arguments  for  immigration  may  be  styled 
the  social  and  the  biological.  These  claim  respectively 
that  the  national  character  and  the  physical  stock  of 
the  American  people  may  be  much  improved  by  the 
addition  of  new  elements  brought  in  by  foreign  immi- 
grants. It  is  pointed  out  that  the  German  love  for  music, 
the  artistic  temperament  of  the  Italian,  the  thrift  of  the 
Slav,  the  outdoor  sociabiUty  of  the  Greek,  might  add 
—  perhaps  have  added  already  —  something  of  great 
value  to  the  Hfe  of  the  country.  There  is  much  weight 
to  this  argument.  It  is  quite  conceivable  that  under 
proper  conditions  of  social  contact  on  a  plane  of  equality 
between  foreigner  and  native  some  such  desirable  trans- 
fusion of  character  might  take  place.  It  is  another 
matter  altogether  to  claim  that  any  such  beneficial 
result  is  transpiring,  under  the  present  conditions  of  the 
immigrant  in  this  country. 

The  biological  argument  brings  up  the  much-vexed 
question  of  the  desirability  of  mixed  stocks.  There  has 
been  a  prevalent  opinion  that  the  interbreeding  of  two 
races,  not  too  far  separated  in  physical  stock,  resulted 
in  a  type  superior  to  either  of  the  parent  races.  But 
there  is  no  agreement  as  to  where  the  line  between  the 
favorable  and  the  unfavorable  mixing  shall  be  drawn. 
Some  of  the  papers  read  at  the  Universal  Races  Congress 
in  London  would  seem  to  convey  the  impression  that 
any  two  races  on  earth  might  be  mixed  to  good  advantage. 
But  this  is  by  no  means  the  universal  opinion  of  careful 
anthropologists. 

In  regard  to  both  of  these  arguments  it  may  be  said 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  PROBLEM    391 

that,  whatever  their  intrinsic  worth,  they  have  no  great 
positive  weight  as  respects  the  present  situation  in  the 
United  States.  It  seems  Hkely  that  this  country  has 
already  within  its  borders  all  the  aHen  elements  that  will 
be  needed  for  a  long  time  to  come  —  certainly  until 
they  are  more  completely  absorbed  than  they  are  at 
present. 

There  remains  by  far  the  greatest  and  most  universal 
argument  for  immigration  —  the  economic  one.  The 
one  plea  for  the  free  admission  of  ahens,  that  has  weight 
to-day,  is  that  our  industrial  organization  demands  it. 
Not  only  is  it  asserted  that  the  rapid  development  of 
the  country  would  not  have  been  possible  without  the 
immigrant  and  cannot  be  prosecuted  in  the  future  with- 
out him,  but  that  the  cessation  of  immigration  would 
seriously  cripple  many  of  the  basic  industries  of  this 
country.  The  former  of  these  points  has  already  been 
considered  at  some  length,  and  the  conclusion  was 
reached  that  it  was  inconceivable  that  in  such  a  country 
as  the  United  States  any  socially  important  or  necessary 
work  should  have  had  to  be  foregone  in  the  absence  of  a 
foreign  labor  supply.  Such  an  assertion  implies  a  lack 
of  self-sufBciency  on  the  part  of  a  young  and  vigorous 
people  which  is  unthinkable.  Whether  the  exploitation 
of  our  resources  would  have  proceeded  at  such  a  rapid 
pace  in  the  past,  whether  this  pace  could  be  kept  up  in 
the  future,  without  the  immigrant  —  these  are  questions 
more  difficult  of  answer.  There  is  no  doubt  that  at 
present  a  large  portion  of  our  industry  —  possibly  the 
greater  part  —  is  closely  dependent  upon  a  foreign  labor 
supply,  and  that  a  sudden  cessation  of  immigration  would 
check  the  expansion  of  those  industries,  though  it  would 
not  necessarily  prevent  their  continuing  on  the  present 


392  IMMIGRATION 

basis.  It  seems  wholly  probable  that  the  development 
of  the  country  would  be  retarded  for  a  time  if  the  immi- 
gration current  was  stopped. 

But  why  this  insistent  demand  for  a  rapid  exploitation 
of  our  resources  ?  Wherein  are  we  the  gainers  if  the 
wonderful  natural  riches  of  the  country,  which,  as  we 
have  seen,  constitute  one  of  the  two  great  elements 
which  have  accounted  for  our  past  prosperity,  are  con- 
sumed in  the  shortest  possible  time  ?  In  the  words  of 
Prescott  F.  Hall,  "what  boots  an  extended  railroad 
mileage  or  the  fact  that  all  our  coal  and  minerals  are 
dug  up  or  all  our  trees  cut  down  some  years  or  decades 
sooner?"  Are  we  so  greedy  for  luxury  in  the  present 
that  we  wish  to  leave  as  little  as  possible  of  this  natural 
advantage  to  future  generations  ?  It  seems  hardly 
possible.  Rather  is  this  idea  another  of  those  traditional 
survivals  from  the  early  life  of  the  country,  when  con- 
ditions were  such  that  the  exploitation  of  resources 
was  really  essential  to  growth  in  per  capita,  as  well  as 
total,  wealth,  and  prosperity.  Our  country  has,  in 
point  of  fact,  developed  so  rapidly  that  the  pubhc  mind 
has  not  adjusted  itself  to  new  conditions,  and  the  idea 
of  the  value  of  a  rapid  exploitation  lingers  on  as  an 
anachronism.  Possibly  there  is  a  shght  element  of 
modern  megalomania  mingled  with  it. 

If  it  were  true  that  the  United  States,  having  reached 
its  present  point  of  development,  was  unable  to  advance 
along  the  path  of  steady  and  solid  growth,  depending 
solely  upon  its  own  resources,  human  as  well  as  material, 
it  would  be  one  of  the  most  serious  indictments  against 
our  social  situation  that  could  possibly  be  made.  It  is 
inconceivable  that  it  should  be  true.  It  seems  much 
more  reasonable  to  believe  that  while  the  suspension  of 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  PROBLEM    393 

accessions  of  population  from  foreign  sources  would  en- 
tail numerous  and  serious  readjustments  in  social  and 
economic  relations,  nevertheless  the  United  States  still 
has  enough  native  virility  to  work  out  a  prosperous  and 
independent  destiny  of  its  own.  It  is  hard  to  see  any 
important  respect  in  which  the  United  States,  at  the 
present  time,  really  needs  immigrants. 

There  is  still  another  type  of  argument  for  immigra- 
tion, which  might  be  called  the  indifference  argument, 
which  says,  in  effect,  "Very  Ukely  we  do  not  need  the 
immigrants,  but  they  do  us  no  harm.  Let  them  come, 
anyway."  The  answer  to  this  throws  the  burden  of 
proof  upon  the  restrictionist,  and  makes  it  incumbent 
upon  him  to  show  that  immigration  really  injures  the 
United  States. 

The  positive  arguments  against  immigration  as  at 
present  conducted  may  be  grouped  under  eight  main 
heads,  which  may  be  designated  as  follows :  (i)  the 
numbers  argument ;  (2)  the  distribution  argument ; 
(3)  the  standard  of  living  and  wages  argument ;  (4) 
the  pauperism  and  crime  argument ;  (5)  the  stimulation 
argument ;  (6)  the  illegal  entrance  argument ;  (7)  the 
biological  argument;  (8)  the  assimilation  argument. 
In  the  discussion  of  these  arguments  it  must  be  borne 
in  mind  that  they  are  considered  with  reference  to  im- 
migration as  it  now  exists,  not  as  it  might  be  under  other 
conditions. 

(i)  The  common  argument  that  we  have  too  many 
immigrants  is  really  no  argument  at  all.  There  cannot 
be  too  many  immigrants  unless  the  excessive  number 
manifests  itself  in  some  positive  evil.  What  the  average 
person  who  uses  this  argument  probably  means,  if  he 
has  any  delinite  meaning  in  mind  at  all,  is  that  there  are 


394  IMMIGRATION 

so  many  aliens  coming  to  this  country  that  their  presence 
results  in  one  or  another  of  the  undesirable  conditions 
which  are  included  in  the  other  seven  arguments. 

(2)  In  Hke  manner  the  statement  that  immigrants  are 
poorly  distributed  is  no  real  argument.  It  has  been 
demonstrated  that  there  are  certain  excessive  tendencies 
toward  concentration  on  the  part  of  our  alien  population, 
but  unless  positive  evils  emerge  from  this  condition,  it  is 
no  argument  against  immigration. 

(3)  The  claim  that  immigration  has  lowered  the  wages 
and  standard  of  Hving  of  the  American  workman  has 
already  been  examined,  with  the  conclusion  that  it  would 
be  nearer  the  truth  to  say  that  it  has  kept  them  from 
rising.  This,  however,  amounts  to  practically  the  same 
thing.  If  somebody  prevents  me  from  getting  that  to 
which  I  am  entitled,  he  to  all  intents  and  purposes  makes 
me  suffer  deprivation.  The  evidence  on  this  point  is  so 
strong  that  it  can  hardly  be  gainsaid.  As  we  have  seen, 
practically  all  careful  students  admit  it.  About  the 
only  answer  that  can  be  made  to  this  argument  is  that  it 
is  not  the  immigrant's  fault.^  This  is  undoubtedly  true, 
partly  at  least.  The  immigrant  has  no  grudge  against 
the  American  workman,  nor  any  desire  to  injure  him. 

1  This  point  is  frequently  pressed  by  writers  who  adopt  the  standpoint  of 
the  immigrant,  as  for  instance,  Professor  Steiner.  Much  effort  is  expended  to 
establish  the  high  character  of  the  immigrant,  his  noble  motives  and  worthy 
ambitions.  The  wealthy  American  on  the  promenade  deck  is  contrasted  un- 
favorably with  the  alien  in  the  steerage.  No  criticism  is  to  be  made  of  this 
position.  It  is  beyond  doubt  that  there  is  a  great  deal  to  admire  in  the  very 
humblest  of  our  immigrants.  But  a  most  emphatic  exception  must  be  taken  to 
the  conclusion  which  apparently  is  assumed  to  follow  this  premise ;  namely, 
that  therefore  anything  in  the  way  of  restriction  is  wrong.  Granted  that  the 
admirable  character  of  the  immigrant  is  thoroughly  established.  This  fact  does 
not  obviate  the  need  for  action,  if  it  appears  that  evils  arise.  If  the  welfare  of  the 
nation  is  menaced;  if  the  immigrants  are  not  reaping  the  benefits  for  which 
they  have  sacrificed  all  in  the  old  country;  if  the  wonderful  patrimony  of  the 
United  States,  fitted  to  render  an  enduring  service  to  mankind,  is  being  thought- 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  PROBLEM    395 

Undoubtedly  he  would  be  glad  to  earn  as  good  wages  as 
the  native,  if  he  could.  Inasmuch  as  he  cannot,  he  is 
not  to  blame  if  he  consents  to  work  for  what  he  can  get. 
And  inasmuch  as  his  wages  are  low,  and  his  family  is 
large,  and  he  is  anxious  to  save,  he  is  not  to  blame  if  he 
lives  on  a  miserably  low  standard.  In  the  whole  proce- 
dure the  immigrant  may  display  the  most  admirable 
qualities.  He  is  simply  playing  his  part  in  an  impersonal 
struggle  for  existence.  But  the  result  to  the  American 
workman  is  the  same.  It  is  a  question  of  causes  and 
effects,  not  of  blame.  It  must  be  accepted  as  a  fact 
that  each  successive  wave  of  immigration  has  tended  to 
check  the  advance  of  the  laboring  men  already  in  the 
country,  be  they  native  or  foreign.  And  here  is  where 
the  numbers  argument  applies.  For  it  is  obvious  that 
the  greater  the  numbers  the  more  aggravated  will  be  the 
evils  of  this  kind. 

(4)  The  argument  that  immigration  increases  the 
amount  of  pauperism  and  crime  in  the  country  has  al- 
ready been  examined.  As  far  as  the  past  is  concerned 
it  appears  that  pauperism  has  been  immensely  increased 
through  our  foreign-born  population,  while  the  amount 
of  crime  has  not.  But  there  has  been  a  change  in  the 
character  of  crime,  in  the  direction  of  an  increase  in 
crimes  against  the  person  relative  to  crimes  against 
property.  What  the  future  will  bring  forth,  it  is  im- 
possible to  predict.     It  seems  likely  that  the  tendency 

lessly  squandered ;  if  conditions  in  foreign  countries  are  not  improved ;  if  the 
most  remarkable  population  movement  in  history  is  being  left  to  the  machina- 
tions of  selfishly  interested  parties  —  if  any  of  these  things  arc  true,  the  fact  that 
it  is  not  the  immigrant's  "fault"  does  not  remove  the  responsibility  from  those 
upon  whom  it  naturally  rests  of  taking  active  measures  to  secure  to  humanity  the 
greatest  and  most  enduring  benefits  which  such  a  tremendous  sociological  phenom- 
enon may  be  made  to  yield.  If  the  first  step  in  such  a  conservation  program  is 
restriction,  then  that  step  must  be  taken. 


396  IMMIGRATION 

toward  an  excess  of  pauperism  on  the  part  of  the  foreign- 
born  will  become  greater  as  the  average  length  of  resi- 
dence of  the  newer  immigrants  increases.  Here,  again, 
the  claim  that  it  is  not  the  immigrant's  fault  might  be 
advanced,  and  the  answer  be  made  that  whether  it  is  the 
fault  of  the  immigrant,  or  of  our  industrial  system,  or 
of  the  individual  American,  makes  no  difference  in  the 
facts  as  they  exist.  It  does  make  a  difference,  of  course, 
as  to  where  the  remedy  must  be  appKed. 

(5)  The  extent  to  which  the  immigration  movement  of 
the  present  is  a  stimulated  one  has  already  been  indicated. 
It  might  seem  at  first  that  it  made  no  difference  to  the 
United  States  whether  the  immigrant  was  induced  to 
come,  or  whether  he  came  of  his  own  volition.  But  a 
closer  consideration  shows  that  there  is  a  fundamental 
difference.  A  strictly  natural  immigration  would  mean 
that  immigrants  came  in  response  to  some  actual  eco- 
nomic demand  in  this  country  which  was  strong  enough 
to  make  itself  felt  abroad.  They  would  also  be  the  ones 
best  fitted  to  meet  that  demand.  But  when  one  of  the 
greatest  motives  back  of  immigration  is  the  desire  of  the 
transportation  companies  to  make  money,  the  mere  fact 
of  emigration  is  no  indication  of  any  real  need  for  the 
immigrant  in  this  country,  nor  of  his  fitness  to  enter 
into  its  life. 

(6)  Owing  to  the  very  strict  wording  of  our  contract 
labor  law,  a  very  large  proportion  of  our  immigrants 
enter  the  country  under  the  impression,  either  false  or 
correct,  that  they  are  evading  the  law.  This  has  a  very 
serious  effect  upon  their  character,  and  upon  their  at- 
titude toward  American  institutions.  They  may  readily 
conceive  that  a  country  that  has  such  laws  that  it  is 
necessary  to  break  them  to  get  in,  probably  has  other 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  PROBLEM    397 

laws  that  need  to  be  broken  after  one  is  in.  The  whole 
system  engenders  a  most  dangerous  attitude  of  indiffer- 
ence or  hostility  to  law. 

(7)  The  biological  argument  of  the  restrictionist  is 
the  obverse  of  the  biological  argument  of  the  pro-immi- 
grationist,  and  is  equally  vague  in  the  present  state  of  our 
knowledge  on  the  subject  of  race  mixing.  Those  who 
urge  this  argument  against  immigration  are  those  who 
beheve  that  only  when  the  mingled  races  are  closely  al- 
lied is  the  resulting  stock  of  a  superior  type,  or  else  those 
who  hold  the  extreme  view  that  no  mixed  race  is  as  good 
as  a  pure  race.  At  any  event,  they  beheve  that  the 
racial  elements  which  are  now  coming  to  the  United 
States  are  too  diverse  to  produce  anything  but  an  in- 
ferior stock  through  their  interbreeding.  In  this  con- 
nection it  should  be  observed  that  there  are  two  possible 
results  of  this  gathering  of  races  in  the  United  States, 
each  with  its  own  problems.  One  is  that  these  races 
will,  in  the  course  of  time,  become  so  blended  through 
intermarriage  as  to  produce  one  composite  but  homoge- 
neous whole  —  the  new  American  people.  The  other  is 
that  race  prejudice  and  the  forces  of  segregation  will 
result  in  the  growth  of  a  large  number  of  ethnic  groups 
within  the  nation,  each  with  its  own  pecuHarities,  and  each 
distinct  from  the  others.  There  are  some  indications 
which  point  to  the  latter  as  the  more  probable  outcome.^ 

(8)  The  charge  that  our  immigrants  are  not  com- 
pletely assimilated,  or  are  not  assimilated  at  all,  is  one 
of  the  most  frequent  and  gravest  complaints  made 
against  our  present  immigration  situation.  It  is  made  to 
include  —  as,  indeed,  it  rightfully  does  in  a  sense  —  all 
the  other  arguments  against  immigration.     The  term 

'  Cf.  Hall,  P.  F.,  "The  Future  of  American  Ideals,"  No.  Am.  Rev.,  Jan.,  1912. 


398  IMMIGRATION 

assimilation  is  almost  unfailingly  suggested  by  the  mere 
mention  of  immigration.  But  assimilation  is  a  big  word, 
and  needs  to  be  used  with  great  caution  and  under- 
standing. 

In  its  general  application,  assimilation  is  defined  as 
the  "act  or  process  of  assimilating,  or  bringing  to  a 
resemblance,  conformity,  or  identity,"  ^  or  ''the  act  or 
process  of  making  or  becoming  like  or  identical ;  the  act 
or  process  of  bringing  into  harmony"  ;2  or  again,  "the 
action  of  making  or  becoming  like ;  the  state  of  being 
like;  similarity,  resemblance,  likeness;  .  .  .  the  be- 
coming conformed  to ;  conformity  with."  ^  It  is  evi- 
dent from  these  definitions  that  the  essence  of  assimilation 
is  likeness  or  conformity;  this  of  necessity  implies  a 
type  to  which  such  Hkeness  approaches.  It  appears 
that  it  would  not  be  incorrect  to  speak  of  assimilation 
when  there  is  nothing  more  than  resemblance ;  it  seems 
equally  clear  that  complete  assimilation  involves  identity. 
This  is  particularly  evident  in  reference  to  the  special 
application  of  the  term,  which  is  the  one  generally  in 
mind  when  it  is  used,  viz.  the  assimilation  of  food  in 
the  body.  In  this  sense  the  process  is  described  as  "the 
reformation  of  biogen  molecules  by  those  already  exist- 
ing, aided  by  food-stuffs."  ^ 

It  is  this  physiological  analogy  which  underUes  the 
term  assimilation  when  applied  to  population,  and  the 
whole  matter  may  be  best  understood  by  keeping  that 
analogy  in  view.  When  nutriment  is  taken  into  the 
system  of  a  living  organism,  it  passes  through  certain 
processes  by  which  it  ultimately  becomes  an  integral 
part  of  the  physical  body  of  that  organism.     It  is  then 

'  Webster's  Dictionary.  *  Century  Dictionary. 

^ New  English  Dictionary.  *  Encyc.  Britannica,  article  "Physiology." 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  PROBLEM    399 

said  to  be  assimilated.  Every  suggestion  of  separate 
origin  disappears,  each  new  constituent  entering  har- 
moniously into  relation  with  the  others,  new  and  old, 
and  fulUHing  its  own  functions.  While  it  is  true  that 
certain  food  elements  contribute  particularly  to  certain 
portions  of  the  organism,  yet  the  whole  is  a  coordinated 
unit.  Any  portion  of  the  food  which  created  disturbance 
with  reference  to  the  body  would  not  be  said  to  be 
assimilated. 

This  is  only  an  analogy,  and  analogies  are  dangerous 
if  used  as  arguments.  But  it  may  contain  a  helpful  sug- 
gestion. Transferred  to  the  field  of  population,  it  means 
that  true  and  complete  assimilation  of  the  foreign  ele- 
ments in  the  United  States  involves  such  a  complete 
transformation  and  unification  of  the  new  constituents 
that  all  sense  of  difference  between  the  new  and  the  old 
completely  disappears.  The  idea  of  a  type,  into  con- 
formity with  which  the  new  elements  must  be  brought, 
is  here  present  also.  In  the  case  in  point,  this  is  mani- 
festly the  "American  t>qDe."  Just  what  this  is,  it  might 
be  difficult  to  say.  Some  writers  appear  even  to  question 
its  existence.  But  the  very  idea  of  assimilation  pre- 
supposes a  type.  In  general  terms,  this  tj^e  in  the 
United  States  is  the  "native  American."  ^ 

A  foreigner,  or  the  descendant  of  a  foreigner,  can  be 
truly  said  to  be  assimilated  only  when  the  natives  around 
him  are  conscious  of  no  feeling  of  alienation  on  account 
of  his  origin,  and  when  the  newcomer  himself  feels  no 
degree  of  separateness,  nor  possesses  divergent  interests 
or  loyalties  traceable  to  the  source  from  which  he  came. 
This  is  not  inconsistent  with  the  fact  that  certain  ele- 

'  For  an  enumeration  of  important  .\mcrican  characteristics,  see  Mayo-Smith, 
R.,  Emigration  and  Immigration,  pp.  5-6. 


400  IMMIGRATION 

ments  contribute  more  fully  to  specific  characteristics 
of  the  body  politic  than  others.  The  political,  reUgious, 
or  artistic  aspects  of  the  national  life  may,  in  fact,  owe 
their  character  more  to  one  element  of  the  population 
than  to  another.  But  if  assimilation  is  complete,  there 
can  be  no  disturbances  or  friction  arising  from  differ- 
ences of  origin  among  the  members  of  the  nation. 

Perhaps  the  most  efficient  test  of  entire  assimilation 
is  that  of  free  intermarriage.  If  marriage  might  take 
place  between  any  man  and  woman  in  the  country, 
without  suggesting  differences  of  race  or  ethnic  origin 
to  either  contracting  party,  or  their  families,  it  is  a  safe 
evidence  of  complete  assimilation.  There  may  be  ob- 
jections on  the  grounds  of  wealth,  social  station,  or 
religion ;   there  must  be  none  based  on  race. 

This  may  seem  like  strong  doctrine.  It  may,  indeed, 
not  be  necessary  for  the  welfare  of  the  country  that  as- 
similation should  be  so  thoroughgoing  as  this.  It  is 
possible  that  different  racial  groups  within  the  body 
politic  do  not  constitute  a  menace.  But  if  so,  the  fact 
should  be  stated  by  saying  that  complete  assimilation  is 
not  necessary,  rather  than  by  saying  that  the  absence  of 
serious  difficulties  or  evils  arising  from  a  composite  popu- 
lation is  a  proof  of  complete  assimilation. 

It  is  disheartening  to  note  the  frequency  with  which 
even  careful  writers  on  the  subject  accept  trivial  and 
superficial  indications  as  evidence  of  the  assimilation  of 
our  foreign  residents.  The  wearing  of  American  clothes, 
the  laying  of  carpets  on  the  floors,  the  abandonment  of 
sleeping  in  the  kitchen  and  taking  large  numbers  of 
boarders,  the  use  of  better  food,  and  most  of  all  the 
knowledge  of  English  are  taken  as  proofs  of  assimilation. 

Not  all  of  these  improvements,   to  'be  sure,  are  in 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  PROBLEM    401 

themselves  trivial.     They  may  indicate  a  great  advance 
in  living  conditions,  and  in  so  far  an  approach  to  Ameri- 
canization ;  but  they  are  superficial  as  proofs  of  assimila- 
tion.    Particularly  is  this  true  of  the  knowledge  of  Eng- 
lish, upon  which  so  much  emphasis  is  laid,  and  which  is 
often  accepted  as  an  evidence  of  essential  assimilation. 
Now  the  knowledge  and   use  of   the  EngHsh   language 
is  of  the  greatest   importance,  and   is  one  of   the   first 
steps  —  perhaps   the  most  essential   one  —  toward  as- 
similation.    But  it  is  not  assimilation  itself.     Mission- 
aries in  China,  Turkey,  and  other  foreign  lands  learn 
to  speak  the  languages  almost  perfectly,  and  sometimes 
their  children  speak  the  language  of  the  country  more 
readily  than  they  do  English.     But  that  is  no  proof  that 
either  the  missionaries  or  their  children  are  assimilated 
into  the  nations  in  which  they  reside.     The  outlook  for 
foreign  missions  would  indeed  be  dark,  were  it  so.     The 
importance  of  the  knowledge  of  English  to  our  foreign 
residents  must  not  be  underemphasized.     The  lack  of  it 
is  an  almost  insuperable  bar  to  assimilation.     But  the 
two  should  not  be  confused.     Even  people  whose  native 
tongue  is  EngHsh  may  need  to  go  through  a  process  of 
assimilation  before  they  become  Americans.     The  fol- 
lowing incident  may  serve  as  an  illustration  of  this  point. 
Two  young  men,  one  an  American  and  the  other  an 
Englishman,  both  teachers  in  a  foreign  city,  were  dis- 
cussing the  conditions  in  the  armies  of  their  native  lands. 
The    Englishman    remarked    that    in    his    country    the 
officers  were  chosen  from  the  noble  families,  and  that  it 
was  a  fine  system,  as  it  caused  the  men  to  look  upon  their 
superiors   with    great   respect.     The   American    replied 
that  in  America  officers  were  chosen  for  bravery,  ability, 

or  distinguished  conduct,  and  that  made  the  men  respect 
2  D 


402  IMMIGRATION 

them  much  more.  "Oh,  no,"  said  the  Briton,  "it  is 
impossible  that  such  a  system  as  that  could  result  in  as 
profound  a  respect  as  exists  in  our  army."  The  point 
was  argued  for  half  an  hour,  with  naturally  not  the 
slightest  alteration  of  opinion  on  either  side.  It  is  prob- 
able that  that  young  Englishman  might  have  Hved  all 
the  remainder  of  his  life  in  the  United  States,  without 
actually  getting  the  American  point  of  view.  But  until 
he  did,  in  this  respect  as  well  as  others,  he  could  not  be 
said  to  be  truly  assimilated,  although  he  might  have 
been  a  very  useful  citizen.^ 

Regarding  the  matter  of  assimilation  from  the  Ameri- 
can point  of  view,  there  are  two  questions  to  be  asked. 
First,  are  our  immigrants  being  thoroughly  assimilated  ? 
Second,  is  complete  assimilation  necessary  or  desirable  ? 
As  to  the  first  of  these  queries,  it  seems  that  there  can  be 
but  one  answer,  as  far  as  the  immigrants  themseves  — 
those  of  the  first  generation  —  are  concerned.  We 
have  seen  in  how  large  a  proportion  of  this  class  the 
first  step,  the  mastery  of  the  Enghsh  language,  has  not 
been  taken.  In  the  various  other  conditions  of  life, 
which  we  have  studied,  it  is  apparent  that  a  large  part 
of  the  foreign-born  are  very  far  from  American  standards. 
With  length  of  residence,  an  approach  to  Americanization 
is  made.  Yet  it  is  very  doubtful  if  it  is  possible  for 
even  the  most  exceptional  adult  immigrant,  from  the 
southeastern  European  races,  at  least,  to  become  thor- 
oughly assimilated  in  his  hfetime.  The  barriers  of 
race,  set  for  the  most  part  by  Americans,  can  hardly  be 

1  It  is  noteworthy  that  while  the  English  are  in  many  respects  more  similar 
to  Americans  than  any  other  foreign  race,  yet  their  complete  assimilation  to  the 
American  type  is  said  to  be  very  difficult,  because  of  their  unwillingness  to  give 
up  their  own  ideas  and  character.  City  Wilderness,  p.  52  ;  Americam  in  Process, 
p.  65. 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  PROBLEM    403 

broken  down.  The  immigrant  is  still  an  Italian,  or  a 
Slav,  or  a  Greek,  as  long  as  he  lives,  and  Americans  regard 
him  as  in  a  measure  a  stranger,  no  matter  how  culti- 
vated, or  wealthy,  or  broad-minded  he  may  be.  The 
mental  habits,  also,  which  are  the  result  of  long  race 
inheritance,  are  very  deep-seated,  and  can  hardly  be 
altered  even  after  a  long  residence  in  a  foreign  country.^ 
Assimilation  for  the  adult  means  the  abandonment  of  one 
set  of  mores  and  the  adoption  of  another.  But  the  mores 
of  a  race  become  too  thoroughly  ingrained  into  individ- 
ual character  and  thought  to  be  subject  to  complete 
revision  in  a  changed  en\'ironment,  even  under  the  most 
favorable  circumstances.  And  when  attention  is  directed 
to  the  slums,  the  question  of  assimilation  becomes  almost 
a  mockery.  These  matters  are  so  obvious  as  to  be  al- 
most an  axiom,  and  even  the  adherents  of  the  "Hberal" 
policy  of  immigration  have  come  to  lay  httle  stress  in 
their  arguments  upon  the  assimilation  of  the  first  genera- 
tion. The  attention  of  all  is  turned  to  the  children  of  the 
foreign-born  —  the  immigrants  of  the  second  generation. 
Judged  by  the  superficial  tests  upon  which  rehance  is 
generally  placed,  the  native-born  children  of  foreign 
parents  seem  to  be  very  well  assimilated.  They  wear 
American  hats,  clothes,  and  shoes,  they  speak  English, 
they  are  as  Kterate  as  the  offspring  of  native  parents  of 
the  same  social  class,  they  play  American  games  when 

'  Professor  Lester  F.  Ward  says,  "The  assimilation  of  an  alien  civilization  .  .  . 
cannot  be  accomplished  in  a  single  generation,  no  matter  how  favorable  the  con- 
ditions may  be."  A  pplied  Sociology,  p.  109.  Professor  Sumner  says,  "  The  only 
way  in  which,  in  the  course  of  time,  remnants  of  foreign  groups  are  apparently 
absorbed  and  the  group  becomes  homogeneous,  is  that  the  foreign  element  dies 
out."  Folkways,  p.  115.  Mr.  Joseph  Lee  says,  "Whether  we  in  this  countrj- shall 
succeed  in  doing  in  a  few  centuries  what  Europe  in  fifteen  or  twenty  or  more 
has  not  been  able  to  accomplish,  is  a  problem  of  which  the  present  generation  of 
Americans  is  not  in  a  position  to  fully  judge."  Charities  and  the  Commons 
19:  17. 


404  IMMIGRATION 

they  are  young,  and  engage  in  American  business  when 
they  grow  up.  In  the  words  of  Professors  Jenks  and 
Lauck,  speaking  of  the  foreign  races  in  the  larger  cities, 
"Their  children  differ  little  from  those  of  the  American- 
born,  unless  they  are  brought  up  throughout  their  child- 
hood in  the  race  colonies,"  —  a  weighty  exception.^ 
But  are  they  really  assimilated  ?  Are  the  tests  which 
have  been  enumerated  above  fulfilled  ?  This  is  a  matter 
worthy  of  the  most  serious  consideration,  and  very 
difficult  of  determination,  withal. 

It  is  a  very  hopeless  task  to  attempt  to  decide  upon  the 
degree  of  assimilation  of  any  group  on  a  statistical  basis. 
Statistics  which  might  give  light  are  meager  and  un- 
reliable, and  it  is  not  a  matter  which  lends  itself  well 
to  such  treatment  at  best.  In  many  of  the  statistics 
which  might  be  appealed  to,  the  second  generation  of 
immigrant  is  included  under  the  general  head  of  the 
native-born,  and  sometimes  gives  that  class  a  more  un- 
favorable appearance  than  it  would  otherwise  present. 
As  far  as  the  statistics  of  criminality  and  tendency  to 
pauperism  are  concerned,  the  native-born  of  foreign 
parents  appear  to  be  the  most  troublesome  class  in  the 
population.  They  seem  to  have  earned  an  unfortunate 
reputation  for  lawlessness,  although  their  crimes,  as  the 
Immigration  Commission  has  pointed  out,  tend  to  resemble 
those  of  the  native  element  in  character.  But  these 
things  alone  are  not  sufficient  tests  of  assimilation.  We 
need  to  know  whether  in  their  mental  processes,  in  their 
attitude  toward  life,  and  in  their  position  in  regard  to 
political  or  moral  questions,  there  hnger  pecuHarities 
traceable  to  their  foreign  origin.  We  need  to  know 
whether   their   neighbors,   of   the  old  American   stock, 

'  The  Immigration  Problem,  p.  209. 


THE   NATURE   OF   THE   PROBLEM  405 

think  of  them  as  different  from  themselves,  because  of 
race.  We  need  to  know  whether,  in  respect  to  inter- 
national questions,  their  views  are  colored  by  inherited 
affiliations  or  prejudices.  In  regard  to  such  considera- 
tions as  these  it  is  impossible  to  make  any  positive  and 
sweeping  statements.  It  seems  wholly  probable  that 
there  are  large  numbers  of  the  descendants  of  immigrants, 
particularly  of  the  earhcr  races,  who  would  measure  up 
to  the  full  standard  of  assimilation  even  by  these  tests. 
But  it  seems  also  beyond  question  that  there  are  great 
bodies  of  immigrants  of  the  second  generation  who  are 
prevented  from  complete  absorption  into  the  body 
politic,  if  not  by  their  own  lack  of  adaptation,  at  least 
by  the  attitude  of  the  representatives  of  the  old  Ameri- 
can stock. 

It  would  be  foolhardy  to  deny  that,  at  the  present 
time,  there  are  immense  unassimilated  elements  in  our 
population,  —  immigrants  of  the  first  or  second  genera- 
tion, possibly  even  of  the  third.  Every  foreign-American 
society,  be  it  Irish,  German,  Italian,  Slovak,  or  any 
other,  whatever  its  aims  and  purposes,  is  a  standing 
evidence  of  a  group  of  people  who  recognize  certain 
affihations  or  loyalties  which  are  foreign  to  the  out-and- 
out  American.  The  number  of  such  organizations  is 
legion,  and  the  membership,  if  it  could  be  reckoned,  would 
reach  an  imposing  total.  The  recent  protests  by  Irish- 
American  societies  against  the  production  of  certain 
plays  by  the  Irish  Players,  the  German-American  demon- 
stration which  broke  up  the  peace  meeting  in  Carnegie 
Hall  on  December  12,  191 1,  as  well  as  the  German- 
American  meetings  held  four  years  previously  to  protest 
against  the  enforcement  in  New  York  of  what  was 
styled  a  Puritan  Sunday,  the  discrimination  of  the  Rus- 


4o6  IMMIGRATION 

sian  government  against  certain  of  our  citizens  —  these 
and  a  host  of  similar  events  occurring  from  time  to  time 
emphasize  the  existence  within  this  country  of  racial 
contingents  which  have  not  become  indistinguishably 
blended  into  the  American  people.  If,  for  any  con- 
ceivable reason,  the  United  States  should  be  drawn  into 
any  European  international  complication,  she  would 
find  that  hosts  of  her  citizens,  as  well  as  mere  residents, 
displayed  a  divided  allegiance,  of  which  the  prepon- 
derance might  easily  be  on  the  side  of  some  foreign  nation. 
As  long  as  such  conditions  as  these  prevail,  it  is  idle  to 
claim  that  assimilation  is  complete. 

Assimilation  is  a  matter  of  the  force  of  environment 
pitted  against  that  of  heredity.  The  protracted  dis- 
cussion as  to  the  relative  influence  of  these  two  factors 
continues  unsettled.  But  the  claim  that  the  second 
generation  of  immigrants  are  thoroughly  assimilated 
seems  to  deny  the  importance  of  either.  To  assert  that 
the  children  of  foreign  parents,  brought  up  in  a  home 
made  by  foreigners  though  located  in  the  United  States, 
are  in  the  end  equally  American  with  children  born  of 
native  parents,  and  reared  in  a  home  upon  which  the 
American  type  is  indelibly  stamped,  is  to  claim  that 
heredity  is  of  no  account  whatever,  and  that  tjie  only 
environment  which  has  weight  is  that  rather  vague 
environment  of  ''country."  It  is  to  say  that  a  man's 
character  is  solely  the  result  of  the  region  in  which  he 
lives,  without  reference  to  either  birth  or  breeding.  It 
seems  hardly  credible  that  such  an  assertion  should  be 
seriously  made.  It  is  more  likely  that  those  who  say 
that  the  children  of  the  foreign-born  are  assimilated 
really  mean  that  they  are  nearly  enough  assimilated 
for  all  practical  purposes. 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  PROBLEM    407 

Professor  Franz  Boas,  in  his  study  of  ''  Changes  in 
the  Bodily  Form  of  Descendants  of  Immigrants,"  which 
forms  a  part  of  the  report  of  the  Immigration  Commis- 
sion, and  has  attracted  wide  attention,  lays  much  stress 
on  the  change  in  environment  which  follows  immigra- 
tion. He  reaches  the  conclusion  that  there  is  a  tendency 
manifest  in  the  American-bom  children  of  immigrants 
to  approach  a  common  physical  type  in  this  country, 
and  that  this  tendency  becomes  more  marked  as  the 
mother's  length  of  residence  in  the  United  States,  pre- 
vious to  the  birth  of  the  child,  increases.  His  main 
investigations  are  concerned  with  the  head  form,  and 
have  to  do  particularly  with  Sicihans  and  east  European 
Hebrews.  The  cephalic  index  has  always  been  con- 
sidered one  of  the  most  permanent  of  race  characters, 
but  Professor  Boas's  figures  seem  to  show  that  the  natu- 
rally long-headed  Sicilians  tend  to  become  less  so  in  this 
country,  while  the  relative  length  of  head  of  the  natu- 
rally brachycephalic  Hebrews  increases.  The  results 
reached  by  Professor  Boas  are  somewhat  startling,  and 
challenge  attention.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  they  will  be 
subjected  to  the  most  careful  scrutiny  by  anthropolo- 
gists quahfied  either  to  verify  or  to  correct  them.  Until 
they  have  been  thus  tested  they  can  be  accepted  only 
tentatively.  On  the  face  of  them  they  suggest  certain 
weaknesses  or  Hmitations.  In  the  first  place,  they  are 
concerned  with  too  few  races,  and  too  few  individuals 
in  each  race,  to  justify  general  conclusions.  Again, 
they  are  concerned  almost  wholly  with  persons  under 
twenty  years  of  age,  who  are  naturally  still  in  a  plastic 
state.  It  would  be  much  more  significant  if  it  could  be 
shown  that  this  tendency  still  persisted  after  the  in- 
dividuals were  fully  matured.     Furthermore,  the  curves 


4o8  IMMIGRATION 

show  a  decided  tendency  to  lose  their  regularity,  and  go 
to  pieces,  in  the  upper  ages  tabulated,  either  because 
there  were  too  few  individuals  in  those  age  groups  to 
afford  regularity,  or  because  the  tendencies  actually 
diminish  as  age  advances.  Finally,  it  must  be  said  that 
if  the  mere  change  of  residence  from  eastern  Europe  or 
southern  Italy  to  America  is  sufficient  to  produce  a 
complete  change  of  head  form  in  the  offspring,  it  can 
only  mean  that  after  all  the  head  form  is  not  such  a  per- 
manent race  character  as  has  been  supposed,  and  really 
has  little  significance.  Certainly  we  should  avoid  such 
sweeping  deductions  from  this  study  as  Professors  Jenks 
and  Lauck  make  in  the  statement,  "  If  these  physical 
changes  are  so  great,  we  may  well  conclude  that  the  whole 
mental  and  even  the  moral  constitution  of  the  people 
may  also  rapidly  change  under  the  new  conditions."  ^ 
It  will  not  do  to  assume,  as  is  sometimes  done  ap- 
parently, that  mere  residence  in  the  United  States  is 
enough  to  make  Americans  of  foreign  immigrants  or 
their  children.  America  is  something  more  than  merely 
a  section  of  the  earth's  surface.  It  is  a  set  of  standards, 
customs,  ideals,  institutions,  mores,  embodied  and  per- 
sonified in  a  group  of  people.  Like  many  other  of  the 
deepest  things  in  life  they  would  be  very  hard  to  enu- 
merate or  describe,  yet  their  existence  is  none  the  less  sure. 
They  are  exemplified  more  completely  in  some  persons 
than  in  others,  and  he  who  most  thoroughly  personifies 
them  is  the  truest  American.  Historically,  they  have 
been  associated  with  a  certain  physical  strain,  with  which 
many  of  them  appear  to  be  inherently  connected.  Real 
assimilation  means  adoption  into  this  spiritual  inherit- 
ance.   The  only  way  it  can  be  brought  about  is  through 

'  The  Immigration  Problem,  p.  267. 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  PROBLEM    409 

close,  intimate,  constant  association  with  those  in  whom 
it  is  embodied. 

The  agencies  of  assimilation  then,  in  addition  to  the 
physical  one  of  race  blending,  are  those  things  which 
further  contact  and  association  between  the  newcomer 
and  those  who  are  truly  Americans.  Professors  Jenk 
and  Lauck  give  a  hst  of  such  causes  or  influences.^  The 
list  might  perhaps  be  amphficd,  but  as  it  stands  it  is  an 
enumeration  of  forces  which  contribute  to  interrace 
association.  It  is  not  essential  that  the  influence  of  the 
American  upon  the  immigrant  be  an  intentional,  or 
even  a  conscious,  one.  Many  of  the  most  powerful 
forces  are  unobserved.  The  foreigner  is  very  much 
aware  of  the  differences  between  himself  and  his  Ameri- 
can neighbors,  and  the  laws  of  imitation  work  strongly. 
But  to  have  these  forces  work,  there  must  be  contact. 

Under  the  modern  conditions  which  surround  the  im- 
migrant this  contact  or  association  is  all  too  often  wholly 
lacking,  or  very  meager.  The  entire  life  of  many  of  our 
foreign-born  and  the  youth  of  their  children  is  spent 
in  compact  colonies,  where,  except  for  a  few  externals, 
the  atmosphere  is  much  more  suggestive  of  the  old  world 
than  of  the  new.  The  conditions  of  the  old  home  are  re- 
produced with  the  utmost  possible  fldelity,  though  often 
with  a  loss  of  much  of  the  charm.  So  far  as  there  is  any 
social  Ufe,  it  is  almost  wholly  confmed  within  the  bound- 
aries of  race.  Even  in  the  industrial  life  of  to-day,  as 
has  been  pointed  out,  there  is  practically  no  contact 
with  Americanizing  influences.  It  is  reall\-  a  wonder 
that  the  aliens  are  Americanized  at  all.  When  we  stop 
to  consider  that  in  Massachusetts  and  New  Jersey  there 
are  only  two  natives  for  every  foreigner,  and  that  many 

'  Ibid.,  p.  293. 


4IO  IMMIGRATION 

of  these  natives  are  of  foreign  parentage,  we  realize  how 
slight  are  the  chances  for  assimilation.  It  would  be 
almost  the  task  of  a  lifetime  for  two  Americans  to 
thoroughly  Americanize  a  native  peasant  from  a  back- 
ward district  of  southeastern  Europe,  if  they  gave  their 
whole  time  to  it. 

The  one  great  assimilative  agency,  which  is  contin- 
ually cited  as  the  hope  of  the  coming  generation  of  the 
foreign-born,  is  the  American  pubHc  school.  It  cer- 
tainly is  a  tremendous  force  in  the  right  direction,  and 
its  possibilities  are  immeasurable.  Yet  even  the  pubHc 
school  is  not  a  panacea  for  all  ills.  It  cannot  take  the 
place  of  both  birth  and  home  training.  During  the 
hours  that  the  pupils  are  in  school,  a  wise  and  tactful 
teacher  can  instill  many  of  the  principles  of  Americanism 
into  their  minds.  But  the  means,  good  as  it  is,  is  not 
adequate  to  the  end.  And  it  is  to  be  feared  that  under 
recent  conditions  even  the  public  schools  are  losing  some 
of  the  power  in  this  direction  that  they  once  had.  With 
the  growth  of  locahzed  colonies  of  a  single  race,  or  of  sev- 
eral foreign  races,  the  schools  in  many  of  our  large  cities 
are  losing  their  American  character,  as  far  as  the  pupils 
are  concerned,  so  that  the  immigrant  child  finds  himself 
associating  with  others  equally  foreign  with  himself, 
instead  of  with  children  from  American  families.  There 
is  a  story  that  in  a  certain  New  England  city,  of  high 
scholastic  traditions,  an  American  lady  determined  to 
place  her  son  in  the  public  school,  and  on  taking  him 
down  found  that  he  was  the  only  American  child  in 
that  school.  A  Russian  Jewess  edged  up  to  her  and 
remarked  confidentially,  "Ain't  it  a  shame,  the  way 
the  Dagoes  are  crowding  in  everywhere  these  days?" 
Furthermore,  a  very  large  proportion  of  the  children 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE   PROBLEM  411 

of  the  foreign-born  do  not  receive  even  such  Ameri- 
canizing influence  as  the  public  school  exerts,  because  of 
the  religious  prejudices  which  compel  them  to  attend 
parochial  schools. 

Aside  from  the  characteristics  of  the  immigrants 
themselves,  the  positive  forces  which  prevent  or  retard 
assimilation  may  be  considered  under  three  heads,  viz. 
the  indifference,  love  of  wealth,  and  race  prejudice  of  the 
older  residents  of  the  United  States.  As  to  the  first  of 
these,  no  elaboration  is  required.  The  attitude  of  those 
who  are  perfectly  content  to  let  things  drift  along  as 
they  will,  without  any  care  on  their  part,  is  too  familiar 
and  too  well  understood  to  need  comment.  The  love 
of  wealth  manifests  itself  as  a  barrier  to  assimilation, 
in  two  principal  ways.  First,  the  greed  for  economic 
gain  results  in  bringing  in  continually  cheaper  supplies 
of  labor,  represented  by  ever  lower  and  more  backward 
races,  and  paying  them  such  wages  as  of  necessity  keep 
them  on  the  lowest  scale  of  living.  Secondly,  the  well- 
developed  distinctions  between  the  rich  and  the  poor 
prevent  Americans  from  associating  on  friendly  terms 
with  these  same  foreigners  for  whose  presence  and  con- 
dition they  are  at  least  indirectly  responsible.  The 
growing  tendency  for  certain  occupations  of  the  lower 
type  to  become  the  especial  province  of  certain  foreign 
races,  as  has  been  observed  above,  is  continually  accen- 
tuating these  distinctions. 

There  can  be  little  doubt  that  race  prejudice  is  the 
greatest  single  barrier  to  assimilation.  It  is  a  disgraceful 
anomaly  that  the  people  of  the  United  States,  who  preach 
and  profess  to  believe  in  the  doctrine  of  universal  brother- 
hood, who  have  given  political  equality  to  the  negroes, 
who  proclaim  all  men  born  equal,  should  in  their  lives 


412  IMMIGRATION 

exemplify  the  narrowest  race  prejudice.  The  very  cur- 
rency of  the  terms,  "Dago,"  "Sheeny,"  "Griner," 
"Hunkie,"  "Bohunk,"  "Guinea,"  "Wop,"  etc.,  however 
insulting  to  the  people  addressed,  is  more  of  a  shame  to 
those  who  use  them.  Many  of  the  sincerest  efforts 
toward  a  better  understanding  between  races  are  thwarted 
by  this  feeling.  Ministers  who  try  to  attract  the  foreign- 
ers to  their  churches  find  that  their  old  parishioners 
do  not  wish  to  associate  with  them  — ■  though  quite 
willing  to  foot  the  bills  —  and  do  not  wish  their  children 
to  mingle  with  them  in  Sunday  school.  The  fact  that  a 
certain  perfectly  natural  fastidiousness  contributes  to 
this  result  does  not  in  the  least  lessen  the  problem.  All 
praise  is  due  to  such  broad-minded  persons  as  Professor 
Steiner  and  Miss  Addams,  who  are  doing  all  in  their 
power  to  break  down  this  barrier.  But  their  task  is  a 
hard  one. 

In  addition  to  the  race  prejudice  existing  between 
Americans  and  foreigners,  there  is  an  even  more  bitter 
prejudice  existing  between  various  foreign  groups,  as 
has  been  mentioned  already.  This  is  also  a  most  serious 
obstacle  in  the  way  of  assimilation.  One  of  the  first  to 
cry,  "Down  with  the  foreigners,"  is  the  Irishman.^  In 
this  connection  it  has  been  pertinently  pointed  out  that 
it  is  possible  for  foreign  races  to  become  so  far  assimilated 
as  to  be  in  practical  harmony  with  Americans,  and  yet 
to  be  seriously  at  variance  among  themselves.^ 

It  must  be  confessed  that,  under  present  conditions, 
the  outlook  for  the  complete  assimilation  of  our  foreign 
population,  even  in  the  second  generation,  is  far  from 
bright.     Even  Miss  Balch's  thoughtful  and  sympathetic 

'  Cf.    Coolidgc,    Mary    R.,    Chinese   Immigration,    p.    267 ;    and    Fairchild, 
H.  P.,  Greek  Immigration,  footnote,  p.  242. 
*  Americans  in  Process,  p.  50. 


THE   NATURE   OF   THE   PROBLEM  413 

chapter  on  assimilation,  though  written  in  an  optimistic 
spirit,  makes  it  plain  that  there  are  many  and  grievous 
difiiculties,  and  leaves  one  with  a  somewhat  gloomy 
feeling  at  the  close.  Professor  Sumner  used  to  say  that 
the  United  States  had  no  claim  to  the  name  of  nation, 
because  of  the  diverse  population  elements  —  foremost 
among  them  the  negro  —  which  it  contains.  Exception 
may  be  taken  to  so  narrow  a  conception  of  the  term 
''nation."  But  there  can  be  no  question  as  to  the  fact 
that  the  problem  of  maintaining  national  solidarity  is 
immeasurably  comphcated  by  the  great  variety  of  ethnic 
constituents  with  which  the  United  States  has  to  deal. 

There  are,  of  course,  countless  institutions  and  agen- 
cies, of  a  benevolent  or  philanthropic  nature,  which  are 
consciously  working  to  assimilate  the  immigrant.  Such 
are  the  night  schools,  the  social  settlements,  the  religious 
missions,  the  boys'  clubs,  etc.  Conscientious  etTorts  of 
this  kind,  when  wisely  directed,  are  worthy  of  the  fullest 
commendation  and  support.  But  the  extensive  and 
valuable  work  they  are  doing  must  not  be  allowed  to 
obscure  the  fact  that  such  agencies,  at  best,  can  only 
touch  the  border  of  the  problem.  Just  as  philanthropy 
is  inadequate  to  aboUsh  poverty  or  to  do  away  with  the 
evils  of  factory  employment,  so  it  is  inadequate  to  se- 
cure the  assimilation  of  the  immigrants  in  this  country. 
Such  immense  problems  can  be  met,  if  at  all,  only  by 
profound  and  sweeping  changes  in  the  conditions  of 
hfc.  The  whole  aim  of  social  legislation  is  to  remedy  the 
conditions  of  employment,  and  to  regulate  the  relations 
between  workman  and  employer,  so  as  to  reduce  the  need 
of  philanthropy  to  a  minimum.  So  it  is  vain  to  hope  for 
the  assimilation  of  the  alien  as  a  result  of  conscious, 
benevolent  effort.     The  only  possibiUty  of  accomphsh- 


414  IMMIGRATION 

ing  such  assimilation  is  through  such  a  change  in  the 
conditions  of  life  of  the  immigrant,  that  Americanization 
will  inevitably  and  naturally  result  from  the  unconscious 
and  normal  influences  which  surround  him  in  the  daily 
routine  of  his  existence. 

In  the  event  of  failure  of  assimilation  to  the  American 
type,  there  seem  to  be  two  possibihties,  as  mentioned 
above.  One,  the  development  of  a  new,  composite  race, 
with  a  character  all  its  own ;  the  other,  the  growth  of  a 
number  of  separate  racial  groups  in  the  same  territory. 
There  are  some  who  regard  the  latter  outcome  as  the 
more  desirable  of  the  two.^ 

As  to  the  question  whether  complete  assimilation  is 
desirable  or  necessary  from  the  point  of  view  of  the 
United  States,  there  is  little  ground  for  argument.  If  a 
person  sincerely  holds  the  opinion  that  neither  of  the  two 
eventualities  mentioned  in  the  foregoing  paragraph  is 
unfortunate  or  undesirable,  his  opinion  could  hardly  be 
changed  by  any  amount  of  argument.  Another  indi- 
vidual, who  believes  that  such  an  outlook,  on  the  face 
of  it,  is  ominous,  is  Ukely  to  remain  of  the  same  opinion 
still,  no  rnatter  how  much  logic  is  brought  up  on  the  other 
side.  The  appeal  to  history  is  not  fruitful,  for  two 
main  reasons.  First,  it  can  be  used  equally  by  the  ad- 
herents of  either  side.  Montesquieu  is  often  quoted  as 
saying  that  the  fall  of  Rome  was  due  to  the  heterogeneity 
of  its  population,  while  on  the  other  hand  it  has  been 
asserted  that  the  strength  of  Rome,  as  well  as  of  all 
other  great  empires,  was  due  to  the  mixture  of  popula- 
tion elements,  even  from  the  very  lowest  sources.^     The 

1  Hall,  P.  F.,  "The  Future  of  American  Ideals,"  No.  Am.  Rev.,  Jan.,  1912. 
^ De  Bow's  Review,  "Sources  from  which  Great  Empires  Come,"  18:698 
(i8ss). 


THE  NATURE  OF  THE  PROBLEM    415 

opposing  camps  in  the  mixed  race  controversy  are  evi- 
dently ranged  on  opposite  sides  of  this  question.  Sec- 
ondly, as  has  been  pointed  out,  immigration  is  distinctly 
a  modern  movement,  and  history  furnishes  no  parallels, 
but  only  more  or  less  remote  analogies. 

The  opinion  of  the  average  American  citizen,  based 
perhaps  upon  prejudice  or  conviction,  rather  than  reason- 
ing or  investigation,  is  probably  that  a  certain  degree  of 
assimilation  is  essential  to  the  welfare  of  the  American 
nation,  and  that  the  nearer  the  approach  to  complete 
assimilation,  the  better.  Any  plan  for  regulating  immi- 
gration, devised  to  meet  the  wishes  of  the  American  peo- 
ple, would  probably  have  to  proceed  on  this  assumption. 

It  is  now  necessary  to  take  the  opposite  point  of  view, 
and  examine  this  whole  matter  from  the  standpoint  of 
the  countries  of  source.  What  have  been,  what  are  Hkely 
to  be,  the  eflfects  of  emigration  upon  those  nations,  and 
accordingly  what  is  desirable,  from  their  point  of  view, 
as  respects  the  regulation  of  this  great  movement  ? 


CHAPTER  XIX 

OTHER  POINTS   OF   VIEW 

The  effects  of  the  immigration  movement  upon  the 
countries  of  source  are  in  a  way  much  more  simple  than  the 
effects  upon  the  United  States.  None  of  the  problems 
of  race  mixture,  assimilation,  varying  racial  inherit- 
ances, etc.,  are  involved.  They  are  confined  principally 
to  the  three  questions  of  the  effect  of  the  removal  of 
parts  of  the  population,  the  eft'ect  of  the  remittances 
from  America,  and  the  effect  of  the  returned  immigrant. 
But  while  simpler,  these  effects  are  perhaps  none  the  less 
subtle  than  those  in  the  United  States,  nor  any  less 
difficult  of  prediction  — ■  for  in  Europe,  as  in  America, 
the  effects  of  this  great  movement  must  be  largely  in 
the  future. 

It  is  one  of  the  corollaries  of  the  Malthusian  theory  of 
population  that  a  steady,  regular  emigration  from  a 
country  has  no  power  to  check  the  rate  of  increase  of 
population  in  that  country.  This  opinion  has  been  ac- 
cepted by  many  leading  students  of  social  subjects  from 
Malthus'  day  down  to  the  present.  In  fact,  the  general 
idea  was  expressed  as  early  as  1790  by  an  anonymous 
writer  in  that  quaint  old  magazine,  the  American 
Museum.  He  says:  "When  a  country  is  so  much 
crowded  with  people  that  the  price  of  the  means  of  sub- 
sistence is  beyond  the  ratio  of  their  industry,  marriages 
are  restrained :  but  when  emigration  to  a  certain  degree 
takes  place,  the  balance  between  the  means  of  subsist- 
ence and  industry  is  restored,  and  population  thereby 

416 


OTHER   POINTS   OF  VIEW  417 

revived.  Of  the  truth  of  this  principle  there  are  many 
proofs  in  the  old  counties  of  all  the  American  states. 
Population  has  constantly  been  advanced  in  them  by  the 
migration  of  their  inhabitants  to  new  or  distant  settle- 
ments." ^  John  Stuart  Mill  beheved  that  a  steady  emi- 
gration was  powerless  to  cure  the  ills  of  overpopulation.- 
Roscher  and  Jannasch  maintain  that  not  only  will  emi- 
gration not  decrease  population,  but  may  actually  make 
the  increase  of  population  greater  than  it  would  other- 
wise be.^  Rene  Gonnard,  the  French  writer,  says  that 
the  fact  of  emigration  gives  a  stimulus  to  the  birth  rate, 
and  cites  Adam  Smith,  Malthus,  Garnier,  Roscher,  and 
De  Mohnari  in  support  of  the  view.^  Robert  Hunter 
also  expresses  his  adherence  to  this  opinion.'' 

With  the  laws  of  population  in  mind  we  can  easily 
understand  how  this  condition  may  result  —  in  fact,  how 
it  must  result  theoretically.  Every  society,  in  the  course 
of  its  development,  reaches  a  balance  between  the  means 
of  subsistence  and  the  desire  for  reproduction.  This 
balance  is  represented  by  the  standard  of  living.  In  a 
society  where  the  desire  for  reproduction  greatly  over- 
balances the  desire  for  comforts  and  luxuries,  the  stand- 
ard of  living  will  be  low,  and  the  rate  of  increase  of  popu- 
lation high.  In  a  society  where  the  appetite  for  material 
welfare  is  strong,  the  opposite  conditions  will  prevail, 
changing  conditions  present  the  possibility  of  change 
either  in  the  rate  of  reproduction  or  in  the  standard  of 
living.  As  we  have  already  observed,  the  former  is  the 
more  flexible  of  the  two.  Particularly  in  static  societies, 
such  as  exist  in  European  countries,  where  social  positions 

'  Amerkan  Museum,  7  :  240.  '  Political  Economy,  Vol.  II,  13  :  265. 

'  Kolonien,  Kolonialpolitik,  und  Auswatuleruni,  pp.  3.^.1  ff- 

*  Op.  cil.,  p.  135.     Cf.  also  Bonar,  J.,  Malthus  and  His  Work,  p.  144. 

*  The  Commons,  April,  1Q04. 

2  E 


4i8  IMMIGRATION 

have  become  thoroughly  stratified,  any  gradual  ameliora- 
tion in  circumstances  is  much  more  likely  to  result  in 
an  increased  rate  of  population  growth  than  in  an 
improved  standard  of  living. 

Emigration,  by  temporarily  relieving  congestion  to  a 
certain  extent,  offers  a  chance  of  betterment.  But  in 
general,  if  the  emigration  is  moderate,  this  chance  is 
seized  by  the  reproductive  power  rather  than  by  the 
standard  of  living.  The  rate  of  increase  of  population 
rises  until  the  drain  of  emigration  is  offset,  while  the 
standard  of  living  remains  unaltered,  and  the  total 
population  continues  virtually  the  same.  The  very 
fact  of  emigr-ation  gives  a  sense  of  hopefulness  to  the 
people,  and  the  knowledge  that  there  is  an  ever  ready 
outlet  for  redundant  inhabitants  causes  the  population 
of  the  country  to  multiply  more  rapidly  than  it  other- 
wise would.  This  is  the  result  which  must  reasonably 
be  expected  to  follow  all  regular  and  gradual  emigration 
movements. 

On  the  other  hand,  while  the  withdrawal  of  a  more  or 
less  uniform  number  of  inhabitants,  year  by  year,  has 
no  power  to  reduce  population,  and  may  actually  tend 
to  increase  it,  the  opposite  result  may  be  achieved  where 
there  is  such  a  sudden  and  extensive  removal  of  people 
from  a  country,  that  those  who  remain  feel  a  definite 
and  profound  Hghtening  of  pressure.  This  must  be 
sufficiently  immediate  and  widespread  to  produce  a 
sudden  and  significant  rise  in  wages  or  fall  in  prices.  In 
such  a  case  it  may  occur  that,  before  the  forces  of  popula- 
tion have  had  time  to  fill  the  breach,  the  people  may 
have  become  accustomed  to  a  somewhat  higher  standard 
of  living,  which  thereafter  they  may  be  able  and  inclined 
to  maintain. 


OTHER   POINTS   OF   VIEW  419 

The  peculiar  sex  distribution  of  modern  emigration 
probably  has  the  effect  of  increasing  the  possibility  of 
reducing  the  population  in  the  countries  of  source,  out 
of  proportion  to  the  actual  number  of  emigrants,  just 
as  it  lessens  the  likeHhood  of  increasing  population  in 
the  country  of  destination. 

Such  is  the  theoretic  argument  as  regards  the  effect 
of  emigration  upon  the  population  of  a  country.  It 
may  be  summed  up  in  the  words  of  John  Stuart  Mill, 
"When  the  object  is  to  raise  the  permanent  condition  of 
a  people,  small  means  do  not  merely  produce  small 
effects,  they  produce  no  effects  at  all." 

There  is  no  lack  of  authoritative  opinions  to  support 
this  view.  In  addition  to  those  already  cited,  the  fol- 
lowing may  be  noted.  Douglas,  Earl  of  Selkirk,  in  his 
pamphlet  on  "Emigration"  dated  1806,  expresses  his 
behef  that  emigration  does  not  reduce  population,  and 
cites  the  Isle  of  Skye  as  a  case  in  point.  The  population 
of  this  island  in  1772  was  about  12,000.  Between  this 
date  and  1791,  4000  people  emigrated,  and  at  least 
8000  more  moved  in  a  more  gradual  and  less  conspicuous 
way  to  the  Low  Country  of  Scotland.  Yet  the  popula- 
tion more  than  kept  even.^ 

Mr.  Whelpley  says,  "There  is  no  hope  of  an  exhaustion 
of  supply,  for  the  most  prohlic  races  are  now  contributing 
their  millions,  and  yet  increasing  the  population  of 
their  own  countries.  There  is  no  hope  of  an  improve- 
ment in  quality,  for  the  best  come  first  and  the  dregs 
follow."-  Professor  Mayo-Smith  says,  "Emigration 
does  not  threaten  to  depopulate  the  countries  of  Europe. 
Mad  there  been  no  emigration  during  this  century  (the 
nineteenth)  it  is  not  probable  that  the  population  of 

'  Douglas,  Emigration,  pp.  1 17118.       *  The  Problem  of  the  Immigrant,  p.  15. 


420  IMMIGRATION 

Europe  would  have  been  any  greater  than  it  is.  The 
probabilities  are  all  the  other  way."  ^ 

Professor  Taussig,  while  not  stating  this  opinion  in  so 
many  words,  appears  to  adhere  to  it  when  he  says  that 
without  emigration  Sweden  and  Italy  would  have  had 
—  not  a  larger  population  — •  but  either  a  higher  death 
rate  or  a  lower  birth  rate.^ 

If  we  seek  for  a  statistical  demonstration  of  the  fore- 
going argument  we  are  confronted  with  the  same  impos- 
sibility of  securing  it  which  has  become  so  familiar  in  the 
course  of  this  work.  These  matters  do  not  adjust  them- 
selves with  clocklike  regularity,  but  operate  over  long 
periods,  and  are  complicated  by  innumerable  other 
factors.  Even  though  two  phenomena  are  shown  to 
operate  harmoniously,  it  is  not  always  possible  to  prove 
which  is  cause  and  which  effect.  The  declining  birth 
rate  has  been  a  common  phenomenon  in  almost  all 
European  countries  during  the  last  forty  years,  and 
particularly  during  the  last  twenty  years  of  the  nine- 
teenth century.^  An  opponent  of  the  view  we  are 
considering  could  point  to  this  fact  as  a  contradiction  of 
the  claim,  while  one  on  the  opposite  side  could  assert 
that  the  dechne  would  have  been  equally  rap^d  and  per- 
haps more  so  without  any  emigration  at  all.  Neither 
could  prove  his  case.  Even  if  it  could  be  demonstrated 
that  the  countries  which  experience  the  largest  emigra- 
tion also  manifest  the  highest  rate  of  increase  in  popula- 
tion, it  might  be  easily  maintained  that  it  was  the  ex- 
treme growth  of  population  that  accounted  for  the  large 
emigration,   rather   than   the  reverse.     About  all   that 

'  op.  tit.,  p.  2,5. 

^Principles  of  Economics,  Vol.  II,  p.  217.  For  a  statement  of  the  opposite 
opinion,  see  Bourne,  S.,  Trade,  Population,  and  Food. 

'  Bailey,  Mod.  Soc.  Cond.,  loi,  and  Gonnard,  L'Emig.  Eur.,  120. 


OTHER   POINTS   OF  VIEW  421 

can  be  shown  is  that  a  large  emigration  and  a  high  rate  of 
increase  of  population  may  go  together.  Examples  of 
this  state  of  affairs  are  numerous.^ 

Of  the  opposite  case,  where  a  sudden  and  extensive 
emigration  has  cut  down  population ,  there  have  been  a 
few  historical  examples,  notably  that  of  Ireland.  The 
population  of  Ireland  diminished  from  8,100,000  in  1841 
to  6,500,000  in  1851,  and  5,700,000  in  1861.  Since 
then  it  has  steadily  declined  to  4,456,000  in  1901.-  The 
fact  that  the  beginning  of  this  dechne  was  coincident 
with  the  great  exodus  to  America  has  made  it  customary 
to  explain  the  decreasing  population  by  emigration. 
But  even  in  this  case,  it  is  a  question  whether  it  would 
not  be  more  accurate  to  assign  the  decrease  in  popula- 
tion in  Ireland  in  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century 
to  the  famine,  rather  than  to  emigration.  The  famine 
was  the  primary  fact,  and  had  passed  the  death  sentence 
upon  a  large  proportion  of  the  people ;  emigration 
—  to  carry  out  the  figure  —  merely  commuted  that 
sentence  to  exile.  It  furnished  an  outlet  to  thousands 
who  were  otherwise  doomed  to  die.  It  has  been  claimed 
that  Norway  has  lost  a  greater  part  of  her  population  by 
emigration  to  America  than  any  other  European  country 
except  Ireland.^ 

The  obvious  effect  of  the  remittances  from  America 
is  a  beneficial  one,  inasmuch  as  it  increases  the  purchasing 
power  of  those  of  the  peasant  class  who  remain  at  home. 
The  immigrant  in  the  United  States  who  sends  money 

>  In  spite  of  the  enormous  emigration  from  Italy,  and  the  almost  entire  de- 
population of  certain  districts,  the  [xjpulation  of  the  country  as  a  whole  in- 
creased 6.81  per  cent  during  the  period  from  Feb.  lo,  1901,  to  June  10,  igii, 
without  regard  to  those  subjects  temporarily  residing  abroad.  Daily  Consular 
and  Trade  Reports,  Jan.  20,  ion,  p.  1440. 

*  Gonnard,  op.  cit.,  p.  22.    '  Flom,  George  T.,  Norwegian  Immigralion,  p.  27- 


422  IMMIGRATION 

back  to  Europe  is  earning  in  a  country  where  the  price 
level  is  high  and  spending  in  a  country  where  it  is  low, 
which  is  a  manifest  advantage.  Even  though  his  real 
wages  are  the  same  as  he  might  command  at  home,  as 
long  as  there  is  a  margin  of  saving  his  family  benefits 
financially  by  the  arrangement.  But  in  so  far  as  this 
money  sent  home  results  in  an  increase  of  the  monetary 
circulation  in  the  European  country,  its  desirability  is 
more  questionable.  The  Immigration  Commission  notes 
an  increase  in  wages  in  some  immigrant-furnishing  sec- 
tions of  southern  and  eastern  Europe.  If  this  were  ac- 
companied by  a  corresponding  rise  in  prices,  there  would 
of  course  be  no  real  gain.  Something  of  this  sort  has 
actually  occurred  in  Greece.  Several  forces,  among 
which  the  remittances  from  America  stand  prominent, 
have  within  the  last  few  years  brought  the  exchange 
between  paper  and  gold  down  nearly  to  par.  The  result 
has  been  to  diminish  seriously  the  purchasing  power  of 
the  income  of  the  ordinary  workingman.  For  while  large 
payments  are  made  in  gold,  ordinary  purchases  are 
made  in  paper,  so  that  while  both  money  incomes  and 
prices  have  remained  approximately  the  same,  the  work- 
man who  gets  his  gold  piece  changed  finds  that  he  now 
has  only  io8  paper  drachmas  or  so  to  make  his  purchases 
with,  where  ten  years  ago  he  had  i6o  or  so.^ 

Even  where  no  such  disadvantageous  effects  can  be 
observed,  it  is  a  question  whether  it  is  a  healthy  state  of 
affairs  for  any  nation  to  be  largely  supported  by  money 
earned  in  another  land,  and  sent  back  in  a  form  which 
gives  it  the  nature  of  a  gift  in  the  eyes  of  the  common 
people. 

As  to  the  effect  of  the  returned  immigrant  upon  his 

iPairchild,  Greek  Immigration,  p.  71. 


OTHER  POINTS   OF  VIEW  423 

native  country,  opinions  again  differ.  Some  observers 
see  a  great  advantage  accruing  to  European  countries 
from  the  better  habits  of  life,  the  more  advanced  knowl- 
edge of  agricultural  and  other  industrial  methods,  and 
the  more  independent  and  self-rehant  spirit,  which  the 
returned  immigrants  bring  back  with  them.  To  them, 
the  returned  emigrant  appears  as  a  disseminator  of  new 
ideas  and  higher  culture,  and  a  constant  inspiration  to 
more  effective  Uving.  There  are  others  in  whose  opin- 
ion the  evil  influences  exerted  by  the  returned  immigrant 
largely  outweigh  the  good.  While  they  build  better 
houses,  and  wear  better  clothes,  they  are  idle  and  egois- 
tical. They  take  no  active  interest  in  the  Ufe  of  those 
around  them,  and  make  no  effort  to  spread  among  their 
fellows  the  advantages  of  what  they  have  learned  in 
America.  Their  example  arouses  feehngs  of  discontent 
and  restlessness  among  their  neighbors,  and  leads  to 
further  emigration,  rather  than  to  the  betterment  of 
conditions  at  home.  They  are  misfits  in  the  old  en- 
vironment. 

There  is  undoubtedly  much  of  truth  in  both  of  these 
opinions,  and  numerous  cases  might  be  found  to  illus- 
trate either.  A  very  helpful  idea  of  the  two-sided  aspect 
of  this  matter  may  be  gained  by  studying  a  concrete 
case,  furnished  by  a  single  country.  For  this  purpose, 
excellent  material  is  furnished  by  the  careful  study  of 
"The  Effect  of  Emigration  upon  Italy"  made  by  Mr. 
Antonio  Mangano,^  who  has  gone  into  all  the  divisions 
of  his  subject  in  an  admirable  way. 

This  author  finds  that  emigration,  great  as  it  has  been, 
has  not  decreased  the  population  of    Italy,  which,  on 

•  Mangano,  Antonio,  "The  E£fect  of  Emigration  upon  Italy,"  Charities 
and  the  Commons,  Jan.  4,  1908,  Feb.  i,  1908,  April  4,  1908,  May  i,  1908, 
June  6,  1 90S. 


424  IMMIGRATION 

the  contrary,  is  larger  than  ever.  He  does  not  say  that 
the  rate  of  increase  has  been  as  great  as  it  would  have 
been  without  emigration,  nor  could  this  be  proved.  It 
is  certain  that  some  sections  of  Italy  have  been  seriously 
depopulated,  though  the  population  of  the  country  as  a 
whole  has  increased.  It  is  quite  possible  that  emigra- 
tion from  Italy  at  the  present  time  approaches  the  sud- 
den and  sweeping  type  sufficiently  so  that  it  may 
actually  check  the  rate  of  increase  of  population. 

As  to  the  effects  of  the  money  sent  home,  and  the 
returned  immigrants,  he  finds  contrary  opinions,  and 
facts  on  both  sides  of  the  case.  Among  the  beneficial 
results  of  emigration  he  finds  that  wages  have  increased 
fifty  per  cent,  so  that  the  peasants  who  remain  have  bene- 
fited by  the  departure  of  others.  Farm  machinery  has 
been  introduced,  usury  has  almost  disappeared,  and  the 
percentage  of  violent  crimes  has  been  reduced.  The  re- 
turned immigrant  carries  himself  better,  dresses  better, 
and  has  a  greater  spirit  of  independence,  which  he  com- 
municates to  others.  There  has  arisen  a  growing  demand 
for  rudimentary  education.  Many  peasants  have  been 
enabled  to  buy  land. 

But  on  the  other  side  there  are  many  evil  results  to  be 
reckoned  with.  The  ignorant  peasant  has  been  cheated 
in  the  quahty  and  price  of  the  land  he  has  bought,  and 
after  two  or  three  years  of  unsuccessful  effort  learns 
that  he  cannot  make  even  a  living  from  it,  and  sells  it  at 
a  great  loss,  sometimes  to  the  very  landlord  from  whom 
he  purchased  it.  The  southern  provinces  are  losing  their 
working  population,  so  that  the  production,  which  was 
inadequate  before,  has  become  even  more  insufficient. 
Carefully  cultivated  and  terraced  land  is  being  laid 
waste  through  neglect.     As  a  result  there  has  been  a 


OTHER   POINTS   OF   MEW  425 

notable  increase  in  prices  and  in  the  cost  of  living,  which 
nearly  or  entirely  offsets  the  higher  wages  of  the  peasants, 
and  brings  a  disproportionately  heavy  burden  on  the 
salaried  and  clerical  classes.  Women  have  been  driven 
to  take  up  hard  labor  in  the  fields,  to  the  extent  that  a 
physical  injury  to  the  rising  generation  is  already  ob- 
servable. As  a  consequence  of  the  breaking  up  of 
families,  there  has  been  a  tendency  toward  moral  de- 
generacy, not  only  on  the  part  of  the  men  who  have 
emigrated,  but  of  the  women  who  are  left.  Prostitution, 
illegitimacy,  and  infanticide  have  increased.  Children 
are  growing  up  without  salutary  restraint.  Tubercu- 
losis, almost  unknown  in  Italy  before  emigration,  is 
spreading  rapidly.  Only  a  few  of  the  returned  emigrants 
are  wiUing  to  settle  down  permanently  in  the  old  country, 
and  work  for  its  uplift,  and  there  is  no  assurance  that  the 
money  which  has  been  sent  to  Italy  for  safe-keeping  will 
be  ultimately  spent  there.  Many  of  the  young  men 
who  return,  bring  back  vices  with  them,  and  serve  as  a 
demoraHzing  example  while  they  remain.^  From  the 
governmental  point  of  view,  there  is  an  alarming  defi- 
ciency of  recruits  for  the  army.  Even  the  new  houses, 
built  with  American  money,  are  not  always  an  improve- 
ment on  the  old,  as  no  new  ideas  come  in  with  the 
remittances. 

A  comparison  of  these  two  categories  emphasizes  the 
fact  that  the  favorable  effects  are,  in  general,  the  more 
obvious  and  immediate  ones.  They  are  the  ones  which 
catch  the  eye  of  the  traveler  or  the  superficial  observer. 
They  are  the  ones  which  appear  to  have  particularly 
impressed  the  Immigration  Commission,  as  evidenced 

'  For  a  corroboration  of  these  facts,  see  Borosini,  Victor  von,  "Home-Going 

Italians,"  The  ^uncy,  Sept.  28,  igii. 


426  IMMIGRATION 

by  their  seemingly  hasty  review  of  conditions  on  the 
other  side.^  It  is  upon  these  that  Professor  Steiner, 
with  his  warm  fellow-feeUng  for  the  immigrant  lays 
special  stress.  Even  Miss  Balch  gives  prominence  to 
this  class  of  effects.  The  injurious  results  of  such  a 
movement  as  emigration  are  likely  to  be  of  such  a  nature 
as  makes  them  slow  of  development,  and  difficult  to 
observe  and  calculate.  Physical  and  moral  degeneracy 
are  slower  to  appear  than  high  wages  and  new  houses, 
but  at  the  same  time  they  are  more  important.  Taking 
everything  into  account,  it  seems  probable  that,  for  Italy 
at  least,  emigration  under  the  present  conditions  will 
prove  at  least  as  much  of  a  curse  as  a  blessing. 

Conditions  in  Greece  resemble  in  many  respects  those 
in  Italy,  though  the  depopulation  of  the  country  seems 
even  more  imminent.  Not  only  has  the  emigration  been 
very  sudden,  but  it  is  almost  exclusively  male,  so  that 
there  seems  a  real  danger  of  a  serious  diminution  of 
population  in  the  kingdom.  Although  the  emigration 
movement  is  so  recent  in  Greece  that  effects  can  hardly 
yet  be  looked  for,  yet  here,  as  in  Italy,  the  immediate 
favorable  results  of  better  houses,  a  reduction  of  the  rate 
of  interest,  mortgages  cleared  from  the  land,  higher 
wages  and  lower  rates  of  interest  are  already  manifest. 
The  darker  side,  too,  is  beginning  to  show  in  the  as- 
sumption of  hard  labor  by  the  women,  the  lack  of  labor- 
ers in  certain  sections,  the  increase  of  immorality  among 
the  women,  and  the  introduction  of  a  demoralizing  ex- 
ample by  returned  young  men.  Prices  and  the  cost  of 
living  have  increased.  The  returned  immigrant,  in- 
stead of  serving  as  an  uplifting  example  of  intelligent 
industry,  is  likely  so  to  conduct  himself  as  to  add  to  the 

*  Rept.  Imm.  Com.,  Emig.  Cond.  in  Eur.,  Abs.,  pp.  lo,  ii. 


OTHER  POINTS   OF  VIEW  427 

already  prevalent  scorn  for  hard  work,  and  increase 
the  prevaiHng  unrest  and  discontent  which  leads  to 
further  emigration.^ 

The  general  conclusion  in  regard  to  the  effects  of 
emigration  upon  European  countries,  which  the  facts 
appear  to  justify,  is  that  the  movement  is  at  least  of 
doubtful  benefit  to  the  countries  of  source.^  The 
obvious  beneficial  results  are  partially  if  not  wholly 
offset  by  certain  undesirable  consequences,  insidious 
and  persistent  in  their  nature,  and  likely  to  make  them- 
selves more  manifest  with  the  passage  of  years.  The 
attitude  of  European  governments  serves  as  a  verification 
of  this  conclusion.  It  is  certain  that  the  advantages  of 
emigration  do  not  sufficiently  outweigh  its  drawbacks 
in  the  eyes  of  most  of  these  governments  to  lead  them  to 
regard  it  otherwise  than  with  disfavor,  although  none  of 
them  now  practically  forbid  it.^  Nor  is  that  attitude 
due  to  the  military  interest  alone. 

The  question  of  the  effects  of  immigration  upon  the 
immigrants  is  perhaps  the  most  difficult  of  all  to  deter- 
mine. It  is  manifest  that  it  must  affect  all  of  their  Hfe 
interests,  in  their  own  generation  and  for  many  generations 
to  come.  And  particularly,  if  it  is  desired  to  ascertain 
whether  the  immigrant  gains  or  loses  in  the  long  run  by 
his  undertaking,  the  effort  involves  the  attempt  at 
evaluation  of  almost  every  human  acti\ity,  in  order  that 
a  balance  may  be  struck  between  the  good  and  the  bad. 

*  Fairchild,  H.  P.,  Greek  Immigration,  pp.  220-235,  Ch.  XI. 

*  Gonnard,  wliile  he  has  little  to  say  of  the  effects  of  emigration,  other  than 
those  on  population,  in  his  book  on  European  Emigration,  nevertheless  gives  the 
general  impression  that  these  effects  are  injurious  as  far  as  .\ustria-Hungary  is 
concerned,  quoting  Count  Mailath  to  that  effect  (p.  280).  The  so-called  emigra- 
tion from  Russia  to  Siberia,  which  Gonnard  regards  as  advantageous,  docs  not 
fall  within  the  strict  definition  of  emigration  a(loi)te(l  in  this  book. 

'  Rept.  Imm.  Com.,  Emig.  Cond.  in  Eur.,  .\bs.,  p.  10. 


428  IMMIGRATION 

On  the  face  of  it,  it  seems  that  there  must  be  some 
gain  to  the  immigrants  from  immigration.  It  is  incon- 
ceivable that  such  a  movement  should  continue  year 
after  year  unless  those  directly  concerned  in  it  were 
profiting  thereby.  It  is  true,  to  be  sure,  that  there  is 
a  vast  deal  of  misinformation,  and  false  hope,  on  the  part 
of  the  immigrants.  Those  who  are  interested  in  their 
coming  strive  to  paint  the  future  in  the  brightest  pos- 
sible colors,  and  to  minimize  the  drawbacks.  The  ex- 
ample of  one  or  two  eminently  successful  acquaintances 
is  Hkely  to  wholly  outweigh  that  of  many  who  only  scrape 
along  or  fail  altogether.  Nevertheless,  making  all  allow- 
ances, it  seems  necessary  to  believe  that  there  is  a  net 
margin  of  advantage  in  the  long  run.  It  is  perhaps  pos- 
sible that  this  advantage  may  often  be  more  specious 
than  real,  and  that  the  immigrant  may  believe  him- 
self the  gainer  when,  if  he  could  balance  true  values, 
he  would  find  himself  in  a  more  pitiable  case  than 
before. 

The  great  gain  of  the  immigrant  is  to  be  looked  for  in 
the  field  of  wealth,  or  material  prosperity.  There  can 
be  little  doubt  that  on  the  average  the  immigrant  is  able 
to  earn  and  save  more,  not  only  of  money,  but  of  wealth 
in  the  broader  sense,  than  he  could  at  home.  This  is 
the  great  underlying  motive  of  modern  immigration,  and 
if  it  were  illusory,  the  movement  must  soon  fail.  A 
comparison  of  economic  conditions  in  Europe  and 
America,  as  far  as  this  can  be  made,  seems  to  bear  this 
out.  Both  wages  and  prices  are  lower,  on  the  whole, 
in  the  countries  which  send  us  most  of  our  immigrants 
than  they  are  in  the  United  States.  But  wages  appear 
to  be  proportionally  lower  than  prices.  The  money 
sent  from  America  is  a  very  real  and  tangible  thing,  and 


OTHER    POINTS   OF   VIEW  429 

represents  a  great  economic  advance  on  the  part  of  a 
large  proportion  of  the  immigrants. 

Doubtless,  there  is  also  somewhat  of  gain  in  inde- 
pendence and  freedom  for  many  of  the  immigrants. 
The  growth  of  class  distinctions  in  the  United  States  has 
not  yet  proceeded  so  far  that  the  immigrant  from  Austria- 
Hungary  or  Italy  does  not  feel  an  improvement  in  his 
social  status.  To  be  sure,  the  classes  of  population  with 
which  the  immigrant  establishes  this  social  equaUty  in 
the  United  States  are  not  such  as  to  do  him  the  greatest 
conceivable  good,  but  a  sense  of  heightened  self-respect 
and  self-reliance  does  undoubtedly  develop,  nevertheless.^ 

Many  of  the  immigrants,  of  course,  forge  ahead, 
either  because  of  unusual  ability  or  exceptional  good 
fortune,  and  attain  a  position  of  advancement  in  every 
way  which  would  have  been  utterly  inconceivable  in 
their  old  home.  There  are  countless  instances  of  pros- 
perous business  men,  eminent  and  respected  citizens, 
invaluable  servants  of  society  in  this  country,  who  could 
never  have  been  anything  but  humble  peasants  in 
their  home  land.  These  shining  examples  attract  much 
attention  here  and  abroad,  and  serve  as  valuable  illus- 
trations of  what  may  be  accomplished  under  favorable 
circumstances.- 

But  for  the  bulk  of  the  ordinary  immigrants  the  eco- 
nomic and  other  advantages  are  ofTset  by  terrible  hard- 
ships and  losses.  As  one  thinks  of  the  broken  and 
separated  families,  often  never  reunited  ;  of  the  depress- 
ing, and  degrading  group  life  of   men  in  this  country; 

•  Miss  Balch  gives  a  pathetic  and  significant  instance  of  a  Ruthcnian  woman, 
returned  to  her  native  land,  whose  highest  ideas  of  ,\merican  social  life  were 
based  on  her  acquaintance  with  negroes.     Our  Slavic  Fellow-Ciliuus,  p.  144. 

*  See  the  series  of  articles  on  foreigners  in  the  United  States  in  Munsey's 
Magazine  for  1906. 


430  IMMIGRATION 

of  religious  ideals  shattered  and  new  vices  acquired  in 
the  unwonted  and  untempered  atmosphere  of  American 
liberty;  of  the  frequent  industrial  accidents  and  un- 
ceasing overstrain  of  the  Slavs  in  mine  and  factory, 
upon  which  they  reckon  as  one  of  the  concomitants  of 
life  in  America,  and  which  sends  them  back  to  Europe 
in  a  few  years,  broken  and  prematurely  aged,  but  with 
an  accumulation  of  dollars ;  ^  of  the  tuberculosis  con- 
tracted by  Italians  in  the  confined  life  to  which  they 
are  unaccustomed,  and  by  Greek  boot-blacks  in  their 
squaHd  quarters  and  their  long  day's  labors ;  ^  of  the  sad 
conditions  of  labor  in  the  sweatshops  and  tenement  work- 
rooms;^ of  the  child-labor  in  the  cranberry  bogs  of 
Massachusetts  and  New  Jersey ;  ^  of  the  destruction  of 
family  life  by  the  taking  of  boarders,  and  the  heart- 
breaking toil  of  the  boarding-boss's  wife ;  ^  of  the  unre- 
mitting toil  and  scant  recreation,  of  the  low  wages  and 
insufl&cient  standard  of  Hving,  of  the  unsparing  and  nig- 
gardly thrift  by  which  the  savings  are  made  possible  — 
as  one  thinks  of  these  things,  which  are  all  too  common  to 
be  considered  exceptional,  and  compares  them  with  the 
conditions  which  characterize  peasant  life  in  Europe, 
where  many  aesthetic  and  neighborly  circumstances 
tend  to  offset  the  poverty,  one  cannot  help  wondering 
how  large  a  proportion  of  our  immigrants  finally  reap  a 
net  gain  in  the  things  that  are  really  worth  while. 

It  is  useless  for  any  individual  to  undertake  to  answer 

1  Balch,  E.  G.,  op.  cit.,  pp.  154-155,  pp.  300-303;  Steiner,  E.  A.,  The  Im- 
migrant Tide,  Ch.  II. 

2  Mangano,  A.,  The  Survey,  April  4,  1908,  p.  23  ;  Rept.  Imm.  Com.,  Greek 
Bootblacks,  Abs.,  pp.  12  ff. 

3  Adams  and  Sumner,  Labor  Problem,  pp.  130-138. 

<  Chute,  Charles L.,  "The  Cost  of  the  Cranberry  Sauce,"  The  Survey,  Dec.  2, 
igii,  and  Lovejoy,  Owen  R.,  The  Survey,  Jan.  7,  1911. 
'  Page  246. 


OTHER   POINTS   OF  VIEW  431 

this  question  categorically  for  immigrants  in  general. 
The  answer  rests  too  much  upon  personal  opinion  and  es- 
timation of  relative  values.  The  point  that  needs  to 
be  emphasized  in  this  connection  is  that  against  the 
evident  and  unquestioned  economic  gain  of  most,  and  the 
general  social  and  intellectual  gain  of  many,  there  must 
be  set  oflf  a  long  Hst  of  serious,  though  not  always  obvious, 
evils  which  result  for  a  large  proportion  of  the  immigrants 
under  present  conditions. 

The  question  of  the  desirabihty  of  immigration  from 
the  point  of  view  of  humanity  as  a  whole,  as  previously 
stated,  is  a  summation  of  the  aspects  of  the  problem 
from  the  point  of  view  of  the  United  States,  the  countries 
of  source,  and  the  immigrants.  This  balance  must  be 
struck  by  every  student  for  himself.  The  effort  has 
been  made  in  the  foregoing  pages  to  set  forth  the  facts 
which  condition  this  great  movement  at  the  present 
time,  as  a  groundwork  upon  which  reasonable  conclusions 
may  be  based.  It  has  appeared  that  for  the  United  States 
there  is  at  present  no  real  need  of  further  immigrants, 
and  that  the  most  that  can  be  said  is  that  they  do  no 
harm.  On  the  other  hand,  it  seems  likely  that  the  evil 
effects  from  the  movement  as  at  present  conducted  — 
effects  to  be  developed  mainly  in  the  future  rather  than 
existent  at  the  present  time  —  will  overbalance  any  good 
that  may  result.  From  the  point  of  view  of  European 
countries,  while  the  advantages  are  obvious,  it  appears 
that  there  are  also  fundamental  drawbacks  which  may 
in  the  end  more  than  offset  the  gain.  For  the  immigrant 
there  is  an  undoubted  net  margin  of  advantage  on  the 
average ;  but  this  advantage  is  less  general  and  real 
than  is  often  supposed,  and  is  qualified  by  many  weighty 
considerations.     In  striking  lliis  balance  it  is  important 


432  IMMIGRATION 

to  bear  in  mind  the  inlluence  of  emigration  and  immi- 
gration upon  total  population.  If  it  is  true  that  immi- 
grants in  a  large  measure  are  supplanters  of  native 
population,  rather  than  additions  to  population,  it  then 
becomes  a  question  whether  the  immigrants  as  a  body 
are  happier  than  the  native  population  would  have  been, 
which  would  otherwise  have  filled  their  places. 

In  regard  to  national  prosperity  and  welfare,  more- 
over, it  must  ever  be  remembered  that  the  effects  of 
immigration  upon  all  countries  concerned,  particularly 
upon  the  receiving  country,  are  scarcely  more  than  in 
the  embryo.  Such  a  tremendous  movement  as  this 
must  inevitably  have  significant  and  far-reaching  re- 
sults. But  only  a  prophetic  vision  could  state  with 
assurance  what  those  results  will  be. 

One  thing,  however,  seems  certain  —  that  the  move- 
ment is  not  accompHshing  all  the  good  that  it  might. 
Many  of  the  foregoing  statements  in  regard  to  immigra- 
tion have  been  qualified  by  the  phrase  **as  at  present 
conducted."  The  peculiar  circumstances  which  have 
given  rise  to  the  immigration  movement  certainly  con- 
tain possibilities  of  great  advantage  to  the  human  race. 
It  ought  to  be  possible  so  to  utilize  them  as  to  bring 
about  a  great  and  permanent  uplift  for  the  whole  of 
mankind.  There  is  no  assurance  that  our  present 
policy,  adopted  in  its  main  features  at  a  time  when  condi- 
tions were  radically  different/  guarantees  this  uplift  in  its 
maximum  degree.  What,  then,  ought  to  be  done  about 
it?  This  is  the  real  kernel  of  the  immigration  problem 
for  the  statesman  and  the  practical  sociologist. 

One  of  the  great  difficulties  with  which  sincere  social 
workers  have  to  contend  in  almost  every  field  of  their 

•  See  page  383. 


OTHER   POINTS   OF  VIEW  433 

efforts  is  that  practical  economics  has  advanced  so  much 
more  rapidly  than  practical  sociology.  Our  knowledge 
of  the  technique  of  production  and  transportation, 
and  of  the  industrial  arts,  has  made  phenomenal  strides 
in  the  past  century.  The  growth  of  cities,  the  develop- 
ment of  the  factory  system,  easy  means  of  communication 
between  all  countries,  the  growth  of  the  world  market, 
advances  in  agricultural  methods  which  have  made 
the  soil  much  more  productive  per  unit  of  labor,  have 
cooperated  to  introduce  a  new  set  of  social  conditions 
and  problems  with  which  we  have  not  yet  learned  to 
grapple.  Our  knowledge  of  how  to  produce  satisfactory 
social  relations  is  far  behind  our  knowledge  of  how  to 
produce  wealth.  This  is  strikingly  evident  in  the  mat- 
ter of  immigration.  If  transportation  conditions  and 
means  of  communication  had  remained  as  they  were  at 
the  time  of  the  Revolution,  our  present  immigration 
situation  could  never  have  arisen.  There  would  have 
been  a  natural  barrier  which  would  have  prevented  too 
large  increments  of  European  population  from  entering 
the  new  country  while  it  was  working  out  its  problems 
and  gradually  finding  itself.  The  problems  of  immigra- 
tion which  presented  themselves  would  have  been  of 
sufficiently  moderate  dimensions  so  that  they  could 
have  been  dealt  with  as  they  arose.  As  it  is,  the  recent 
rapid  development  of  communication  has  made  the  ease 
of  immigration  so  great  that  we  have  been  overwhelmed 
by  the  resulting  problems.  The  movement  of  millions 
of  people  from  one  region  to  another  is  a  phenomenon  of 
prodigious  sociological  import.  Modern  mechanical  prog- 
ress has  made  this  movement  possible,  before  the  nations 
or  the  individuals  concerned  have  advanced  far  enough 
in  social  science  to  know  how  to  make  the  most  of  it. 

2F 


434  IMMIGRATION 

Granting  that  there  is  an  immigration  problem,  and 
granting  that  there  is  a  desire  to  grapple  with  it,  there 
are  two  methods  of  attack.  The  first  is,  to  pick  out 
the  obvious  evils,  and  apply  a  specific  to  them  one  by 
one.  The  other  is  to  endeavor  to  determine  the  under- 
lying principles  and  to  devise  a  consistent  and  com- 
prehensive plan  which  will  go  to  the  root  of  the  matter, 
relying  upon  estabHshed  sociological  laws.  The  first 
method  is  much  the  simpler.  It  is  the  one  which  has 
hitherto  been  followed  out  in  our  immigration  legisla- 
tion. One  by  one  certain  crying  evils  have  been  met 
by  definite  measures.  After  half  a  century  of  pro- 
test, paupers  and  criminals  were  refused  admission. 
A  little  later  contract  laborers  were  debarred.  Certain 
diseased  classes,  growing  more  comprehensive  with  the 
years,  have  been  excluded.  The  principle  of  deportation 
has  been  introduced  and  gradually  enlarged.  Steamship 
companies  have  been  made  responsible  for  the  return  of 
nonadmissible  aliens.  The  net  result  of  these  measures 
has  unquestionably  been  beneficial.  This  type  of  remedy, 
if  wisely  administered,  is  always  valuable,  and  should 
be  adopted,  in  the  absence  or  delay  of  the  other  kind  of 
solution. 

Certain  other  improvements  of  this  general  type 
readily  suggest  themselves.  The  steerage  should  be 
abolished,  and  United  States  inspectors  placed  on  all 
immigrant-carrying  vessels.  If  possible,  better  provi- 
sions should  be  adopted  for  turning  back  inadmissibles 
early  on  their  journey.  Immigrant  banks  and  lodg- 
ing-houses should  receive  stricter  supervision.  The 
padrone  system  and  the  unrestricted  contract  labor 
system  should  be  abolished.  Tenement  houses  should 
be   supervised   in   the   strictest   way   possible.     Every 


OTHER   POINTS   OF  VIEW  435 

remedial  agency  designed  to  better  the  lot  of  the  alien 
in  this  country  should  be  encouraged. 

It  appears  that  many  of  the  ills  of  immigration  are 
due  to  faulty  distribution  and  the  lack  of  efficient  con- 
tact between  aliens  and  the  better  classes  of  Americans. 
Consequently,  the  need  of  better  distribution,  and  vari- 
ous schemes  for  securing  it,  are  constantly  urged  in  the 
press,  and  in  other  writings  on  the  subject.  Yet  we  are 
warned  to  be  on  our  guard  against  pinning  too  much 
faith  to  this  solution  of  the  problem.  There  are  many 
evils  which  distribution  alone  cannot  remedy,  and  there 
is  competent  authority  for  the  statement  that  much  of 
the  agitation  for  better  distribution  emanates  from 
interests  which  profit  by  a  large  immigration,  and  which 
hope  in  this  way  to  blind  the  eyes  of  the  American 
people  to  the  more  deep-seated  evils,  and  to  hush  the 
cry  for  some  restrictive  measures.  Some  think,  also, 
that  if  there  ever  was  a  time  when  any  scheme  of  dis- 
tribution would  have  been  effective,  it  is  now  long  since 
past.^ 

In  such  ways  as  the  foregoing,  great  good  may  be 
accomplished,  and  many  of  the  more  obvious  evils 
avoided  or  mitigated.  It  does  not  seem  possible,  how- 
ever, that  in  such  a  manner  can  the  greatest  possible  good 
be  derived  from  the  immigration  movement.  This  can 
be  achieved  only  through  the  operation  of  some  far- 
reaching,  inclusive  plan  of  regulation,  based  on  the 
broadest  and  soundest  principles,  in  which  all  countries 
concerned  will  concur.  The  formulation  of  such  a  plan 
requires  the  greatest  wisdom  of  which  man  is  capable. 
It  is  possible  that  we  have  not  yet  advanced  far  enough 
in  social  science  to  make  the  construction  of  such  a  plan 

*  Cf.  Rept.  Com.  Gen.  of  Imm.,  191 1,  pp.  4-7. 


436  IMMIGRATION 

feasible.  In  such  a  case,  it  might  be  the  part  of  wisdom 
and  honor  to  radically  restrict  the  numbers  of  immi- 
grants until  such  a  plan  can  be  devised  and  put  into 
operation.  Otherwise,  the  peculiar  situation  of  the 
United  States  among  nations  may  disappear,  and  the 
possibiUties  of  gain  to  the  race  be  lost  forever,  before 
the  maximum  advantage  has  been  secured.  One  of  the 
strongest  arguments  for  restriction  at  the  present  time. is 
that  the  United  States  is  not  yet  qualified  to  accept  the 
responsibihty  of  admitting  unlimited  numbers  of  eager 
seekers  for  advantages,  and  giving  them  in  fullest  measure 
those  things  which  they  desire,  and  which  their  earnest 
efforts  merit. 

One  thing,  meanwhile,  must  be  remembered  —  the 
problem  will  not  solve  itself.  If  there  are  evils  con- 
nected with  immigration,  there  is  no  prospect  that  in 
the  natural  course  of  events  they  will  disappear  of  them- 
selves. The  history  of  immigration  has  been  a  history 
of  successive  waves  of  population,  from  sources  ever 
lower  in  the  economic,  if  not  in  the  social,  scale.  If  it 
has  seemed  at  any  time  that  the  country  was  about  to 
adjust  itself  to  a  certain  racial  admixture,  a  new  and 
more  difficult  element  has  presented  itself.  And  the 
process  will  go  on.  As  General  Walker  pointed  out 
long  ago,  immigration  of  the  lowest  class  "will  not  be 
permanently  stopped  so  long  as  any  difference  of  eco- 
no7nic  level  exists  between  our  population  and  that  of  the 
most  degraded  communities  abroad."  ^  Under  present 
conditions  a  diminution  in  the  immigration  stream  should 
not  be  interpreted  as  a  cause  of  congratulation,  but 
rather  deep  consternation.  For,  except  to  the  ex- 
tent that  restriction  is  actually  accomphshed  by  our 

'  Quoted  by  Hall,  P.  F.,  Immigration,  p.  128. 


OTHER   POINTS   OF   VIEW  437 

laws,  a  cessation  of  the  stream  of  immigration  to  the 
United  States  can  only  mean  that  economic  conditions 
in  this  country  have  fallen  to  so  low  a  pitch  that  it  is  no 
longer  worth  while  for  the  citizens  of  the  meanest  and 
most  backward  foreign  country  to  make  the  moderate 
effort  to  get  here. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Note.  A  bibliography  on  Immigration  might  be  extended 
almost  indefinitely.  Nearly  every  book  written  on  any  social 
question,  particularly  in  America,  contains  material  on  immigra- 
tion. The  magazine  articles  on  the  subject  are  legion.  By  no 
means  aU  the  works  which  may  profitably  be  consulted,  nor  all 
those  cited  in  the  foregoing  pages,  arc  included  in  the  {oUowing  hst. 

GENERAL  AND   MISCELLANEOUS 

Books 

Addams,  Jane  :  Newer  Ideals  of  Peace,  1907 ;  Twenty  Years  at 

Hull-House,  1910. 
A>rDERSON,  W.  L. :  The  Country  Town,  1906. 
Blodget,  Samuel  :    Economics :    A  Statistical  Manual  for  the 

United  States  of  America,  1806. 
Brandenburg,  Broughton:  Imported  Americans,  1904. 
Bromwell,  William  J. :  History  of  Immigration  into  the  United 

States,  1856. 
Bushee,  F.  a.  :    Ethnic   Factors   in   the  Population   of  Boston, 

American  Economic  Association,  3d  Series,  4:2,  1903. 
Byington,   Margaret  F.  :    Homestead:  The  Households  of  a 

INIill  Town,  1910. 
Chickering,  Jesse:    Immigration  into  the  United  States,  1S48. 
Commons,  John  R.  :    Races  and  Immigrants  in  America,  1908. 
Donaldson,  Thomas:  The  PubUc  Domain,  1881. 
Edwards,  Richard  H.  :  Immigration,  1909. 
Ellwood,  Charles  A. :  Sociology  and  Modem  Social  Problems, 

1910. 
Endicott,  William  C,  Jr.  :  Immigration  Laws,  State  and  National, 

in  Commercial  Relations  of  the  United  States,   1885-1886. 

Appendix  III,  1887. 
Evans-Gordon,  W.  :  The  Alien  Immigrant,  1003. 
GoNNARD,  Rene:  L'Emigration  europ6enne  au  XIX  Siecle,  1906. 

439 


440  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Grose,  Howard  B.  :  Alliens  or  Americans  ?  1906. 

Hall,  Prescott  F.  :  Immigration,  1906. 

Henderson,  C.  R.  :  An  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  the  Depend- 
ent, Defective,  and  DeUnquent  Classes,  1893. 

Hunter,  Robert  :  Poverty,  1904. 

Immigration  Commission:  Report,  Authorized,  1907. 

Jenks,  Jeremiah,  and  Lauck,  W.  Jett  :  The  Immigration  Prob- 
lem, 191 1. 

Kapp,  Friedrich  :   Immigration  and  the  Commissioners  of  Emi- 
gration of  the  State  of  New  York,  1870. 

Kenngott,  George  F.  :  The  Record  of  a  City,  191 2. 

Lincoln,  Jonathan  T.  :  The  City  of  the  Dinner  Pail,  1909. 

MacLean,  Annie  M.  :  Wage-Earning  Women,  1910. 

Martineau,  Harriet:  Society  in  America,  1837. 

Mayo-Smith,  Richmond  :    Emigration   and   Immigration,   1890. 

New  York  Bureau  of  Industries  and  Immigration :    First  Annual 
Report,  191 1. 

New  York  Commission  of  Immigration :  Report,  1909. 

von  Raumer,  F.  L.  :    America  and  the  American  People,  1846. 

Rauschenbusch,  Walter  :    Christianity  and  the  Social  Crisis, 
1910. 

Riis,  Jacob  :  How  the  Other  Half  Lives,  1890 ;  The  Making  of  an 
American,  1901. 

Roberts,  Peter  :  Anthracite  Coal  Communities,  1904 ;  The  New 
Immigration,  191 2. 

Roscher,  Wilhelm,  and  Jannasch,  Robert  :  Kolonien,  Kolonlal 
polltik,  und  Auswanderung,  1885. 

Seybert,  Adam  :    Statistical  Annals  of  the  United  States,  1 789- 
1818,  1818. 

Spiller,  G.  :  Interracial  Problems,  191 1. 

Steiner,  Edward  A. :  On  the  Trail  of  the  Immigrant,  1906 ;  The 
Immigrant  Tide,  1909. 

Stelzle,  Charles  :  The  Working  Man  and  Social  Problems,  1903. 

Sumner,  William  G.  :  Folkways,  1907  ;  War  and  Other  Essays, 
1911. 

Taussig,  F.  W.  :  Principles  of  Economics,  1911. 

Trollope,  Mrs.  T.  A. :  Domestic  Manners  of  the  Americans,  1832. 

United  States  Bureau  of  the  Census:    Census  Reports;    A  Cen- 
tury of  Population  Growth,  1909. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  441 

United  States  Bureau  of  Immigration  and  Naturalization :  Com- 
missioner General  of  Immigration,  Annual  Reports ;  Immigra- 
tion Laws  (Pamphlets). 

United  States  Bureau  of  Statistics :  Immigration  into  the  United 
States  from  1820  to  1903,  1903 ;  Special  Report  on  Immi- 
gration, by  Young,  Edward,  187 1. 

United  States  Congress :    Documents,  Reports,  etc. 

United  States  Library  of  Congress :  A  List  of  Books  (with  refer- 
ences to  periodicals)  on  Immigration,  1907. 

Walker,  F.  A. :  Discussions  in  Economics  and  Statistics, 
1899. 

Watson,  John  F.  :  Annals  of  Philadelphia,  1830. 

Whelpley,  James  D.  :  The  Problem  of  the  Immigrant,  1905. 

WiLKiNS,  William  H.  :  The  Alien  Invasion,  1892. 

Woods,  Robert  A.,  and  others :  Americans  in  Process,  1902  ;  The 
City  Wilderness,  1898. 

Magazine  Articles,  etc. 

AiNSWORTH,  F.  H. :  Are  We  Shouldering  Europe's  Burden  ? 
Charities,  12:  134,  1904. 

American  Museum:  i:  13;  2:  213;  5:  109;  7:  87,  233,  240; 
8  :  124;  10:  114,  221  ;  12  :  112 ;  13  :  196,  263,  268,  1787-98. 

Barrows,  W.  :  Immigration ;  Its  Evils  and  their  Remedies. 
New  Englander,  13  :  262,  1855. 

Brandenburg,  Broughton  :  The  Tragedy  of  the  Rejected  Immi- 
grant, Outlook,  84:  361,  1906. 

Chambers' Journal :  Warning  to  Emigrants,  50:  644,  1873. 

Chambers,  W.  :  Emigrant  Entrappers,  Chambers'  Journal, 
23:  141,  1855. 

Commons,  John  R.  :  Social  and  Lidustrial  Problems  of  Immi- 
gration, Chautauquan,  39:  13,  1904. 

De  Bow's  Review :  Sources  from  which  Great  Empires  Come, 
18:  698,  1855. 

Devine,  Edward  T.  :  The  Selection  of  Immigrants,  The  Survey, 
Feb.  4,  191 1. 

Everett,  A.  H. :  Immigration  to  the  United  States,  North 
American  Review,  40:  457,  1835. 

Goldenweiser,  E.  a.  :  Immigrants  in  Cities,  The  Survey,  Jan. 
7,  1911. 


442  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Hall,  Prescott  F.  :  The  Future  of  American  Ideals,  North 
American  Review,  195  :  94,  191 2. 

Hart,  A.  B.  :  The  Disposition  of  Our  Public  Lands,  Quarterly 
Journal  of  Economics,  i :  169,  251,  1887. 

Hazard,  Samuel  :  Register  of  Pennsylvania,  1:25;  6 :  266 ;  8:31, 
27,33,54,88,108,116;   11:361,416;   15:157,1828-35. 

Lee,  Joseph  :  Conservation  of  Yankees,  The  Survey,  Oct.  28, 
1911. 

Monthly  Anthology :  Letter  from  a  French  Emigrant,  6  :  383,  1809. 

Niles' Register :  ii:3S9;  i3  :  35,  378  ;  17  :  38,  63, ;  20  :  193  ;  22  :  155, 
310;  23:  305;  24:  113,  411;  25:  232;  34:  411;  40:  74,  130, 
273  ;  41 :  356  ;  43  :  40,  391 ;  44 :  131,  233  ;  45  :  2  ;  46 :  i,  218, 
244,  398  ;  49  :  62,  69 ;  52  :  250,  1816-38. 

North  American  Review :  Review  of  von  Fiirstenwiirther,  M.,  Der 
Deutsche  in  Nord-Amerika,  11 :  i,  1820;  Figures  of  Immigra- 
tion, 1812-21,  15  :30i,  304,  1822  ;  Review  of  Schmidt  and  Gall 
on  America,  17:91,  1823;  Quotations  from  Hodgson's  Re- 
marks on  America,  18:  222,  1824. 

Ripley,  William  Z. :  Races  in  the  United  States,  Atlantic 
Monthly,  102 :  745,  1908. 

Rossiter,  W.  S.  :  A  Common-Sense  View  of  the  Immigration 
Problem,  North  American  Review,  188:  360,  1908. 

Sato,  S.  :  History  of  the  Land  Question  in  the  United  States, 
Johns  Hopkins  Studies,  4:  259,  1886. 

Shaler,  N.  S.  :  European  Peasants  as  Immigrants,  Atlantic 
Monthly,  71 :  646,  1893. 

ToBENKiN,  Elias  :  Immigrant  Girl  in  Chicago,  The  Survey, 
Nov.  6,  1909. 

Willis,  H.  Parker:  Review  of  Findings  of  the  Immigration 
Commission,  The  Survey,  Jan.  7,  191 1. 

GENERAL  MIGRATION 

Books 

Bradley,  Henry:  The  Story  of  the  Goths,  1888, 

HoDGKiN,  Thomas:  Theodoric  the  Goth,  1891. 

JoRDANES :  The  Origin  and  Deeds  of  the  Goths,  English  version  by 

Mierow,  Charles  C,  1908. 
Keller,  Albert  G.  :  Colonization,  1908. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  443 

Leroy-Beaulieu,  Paul:  De  la  Colonisation  chez  les  Peuples 
Modernes,  1908. 

Merivale,  Herman:  Lectures  on  Colonization,  1861. 

VON  Pflugk-Harttung,  Julius  :  The  Great  Migrations,  trans- 
lated by  Wright,  John  Henry,  1905. 

Magazine  Articles,  etc. 

Bryce,  James  :  Migrations  of  the  Races  of  Men  Considered  His- 
torically, Contemporary  Review,  62:  128,  1892. 

Mason,  Otis  T.  :  Migration  and  the  Food  Quest,  American 
Anthropologist,  7  :  275,  1894. 

COLONIAL  PERIOD 

Books 

Archives  of  Maryland. 

Armstrong,  Edward  :  Correspondence  between  William  Penn  and 
James  Logan  and  Others,  1S70-72. 

BiTTiNGER,  Lucy  F.  :    The  Germans  in  Colonial  Times,   1901. 

Cobb,  S.  H.  :  The  Story  of  the  Palatines,  1897. 

Dexter,  F.  B.  :  Estimates  of  Population  in  the  American  Colonies, 
1887. 

DiFFENDERFFER,  F.  R. :  The  German  Immigration  into  Pennsyl- 
vania through  the  Port  of  Philadelphia,  1700-75,  1900. 

Documents  relating  to  the  Colonial  History  of  New  York. 

FiSKE,  John  :  Old  Virginia  and  Her  Neighbors,  1897. 

Geiser,  K.  F.  :  Redemptioners  and  Indentured  Serv'ants  in  the 
Colony  and  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania,  1901. 

Massachusetts  Election  Sermons,  1754. 

Mittelberger,  Gottlieb:  Journey  to  Pennsylvania  in  1750, 
translated  by  Eben,  C.  T.,  1898. 

New  Jersey  Archives. 

North  Carolina  Colonial  Documents. 

Pennsylvania  Colonial  Records. 

Proper,  E.  E.  :  Colonial  Immigration  Laws,  Columbia  College 
Studies,  12:2,  1900. 

Rhode  Island  Colonial  Records. 


444  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

RACIAL   STUDIES 

Books 

Antin,  Mary:  The  Promised  Land,  1912. 

Balch,  Emily  G.  :    Our  Slavic  Fellow-Citizens,  igio. 

Benjamin,  G.  G.  :   The  Germans  in  Texas,  1909. 

Bernheimer,  Charles  S.  :  The  Russian  Jew  in  the  United  States, 

1905. 
Card,  L.  :  Auswanderung  und  Auswanderungspolitik  in  Osterreich, 

1909. 
CooLiDGE,  Mary  R.  :   Chinese  Immigration,  1909. 
Fairchild,  H.  p.  :   Greek  Immigration  to  the  United  States,  191 1. 
Faust,  A.  B. :  The  German  Element  in  the  United  States,  1909. 
Flom,    George   T.  :     Norwegian   Immigration  into    the  United 

States,  1909. 
Green,  S.  S.  :  The  Scotch-Irish  in  America,  1895. 
Hale,  E.  E.  :   Letters  on  Irish  Immigration,  1852. 
Hanna,  Charles  A. :  The  Scotch-Irish,  1902. 
King,  Bolton,  and  Okey,  Thomas:  Italy  To-day,  1901. 
Lord,  Eliot,  Trenor,  J.  D.,  and  Barrows,  S.  J. :  The  Italian  in 

America,  1905. 
MacLean,  J.  P. :    Settlements  of  Scotch  Highlanders  in  America, 

1900. 
Maguire,  J.  F. :  The  Irish  in  America,  1868. 
Nelson,  O.  N.  :  History  of  Scandinavians  and  Successful  Scandi- 
navians in  the  United  States,  1900. 
Peters,  Madison  C.  :  The  Jews  in  America,  1905. 
RuBiNow,  I.  M.  :    Economic  Condition  of  the  Jews  in  Russia, 

United  States  Bureau  of  Labor,  Bulletin  No.  72,  1907. 
Seward,  George  F.  :  Chinese  Immigration,  1881. 
Sparks,  E.  E.  :  The  Chinese  Question,  in  National  Development, 

1877-85,  p.  229,  1907. 

Magazine  Articles,  etc. 

Abbott,  Grace:   The  Bulgarians  of  Chicago,  Charities,  21:653, 

1909. 
BoDio,  L. :  Deir  Emigrazione  Itanana,Nuova  Antologia,  183  :  529, 

1902. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  445 

Everett,  E.  :   German  Immigration  to  the  United  States,  North 

American  Review,  11 :  i,  1820. 
Houghton,  Louise  S.  :  Syrians  in  the  United  States,  The  Survey, 

July  I,  Aug.  5,  Sept.  2,  Oct.  7,  1911;  The  above  criticised, 

The  Survey,  Oct.  28,  191 1. 
Mangano,   Antonio  :    The   Effect   of   Emigration   Upon   Italy, 

Charities  and  the  Commons,  Jan.  4,  Feb.  i,  April  4,  May  2, 

June  6,  1908. 
MiLLis,  H.  A. :  East  Indian  Immigration  to  British  Columbia  and 

the  Pacific  Coast  States,  American  Economic  Review,  1:72, 

1911. 
North  American  Review:   The  Irish  in  America,  52  :  191,  1841. 
RuBiNOW,  I.  M. :  The  Jews  in  Russia,  Yale  Review,  15  :  147,  1906. 

INDUSTRIAL   RELATIONS 

Books 
Adams,  T.  S.,  and  Sumner,  H.  L.  :  Labor  Problems,  1905. 
Dewees,  F.  p.  :   The  Molly  Maguires,  1877. 
HouRWiCH,  IsA.\c  A.:  Immigration  and  Labor,  1912. 
Stewart,  Ethelbert  :  Influence  of  Trade  Unions  on  Immigrants, 

In  LaFollette,  R.  M.,  The  Making  of  America,  Vol.  8,  p.  226, 

1906. 
Warne,  F.  J. :   The  Slav  Invasion  and  the  Mine  Workers,  1904. 

Magazine  Articles,  etc. 

All  the  Year  Round :  Molly  Maguire  in  America,  New  Series, 
17 :  270,  1876. 

Bailey,  W.  B.  :  The  Bird  of  Passage,  American  Journal  of  Soci- 
ology, 18:391,  1912. 

Cance,  Alexander  E.  :  Immigrant  Rural  Communities,  The  Sur- 
vey, Jan.  7,  191 1  ;  Jewish  Immigrants  as  Tobacco  Growers  and 
Dairymen,  The  Survey,  Nov.  4,  1911 ;  Picdmontcse  on  the 
Mississippi,  The  Survxy,  Sept.  2,  1911 ;  Slav  Farmers  on  the 
"Abandoned-Farm"  Area  of  Connecticut,  The  Survey,  Oct. 

7.  1911- 

Chute,  Charles  L.  :  The  Cost  of  the  Cranberry  Sauce,  The 
Survey,  Dec.  2,  191 1. 

Darlington,  Thomas  :  ^^edico-Economic  .Aspect  of  the  Immi- 
gration Problem,  North  American  Review,  183:1262,  1906. 


446  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

HoLCOMBE,  A.  N. :  Minimum  Wage  Boards,  The  Survey,  April  i, 

1911. 
Kellogg,  Paul  U.  :   An  Immigrant  Labor  Tariff,  The  Survey, 

Jan.  7,  191 1 ;  The  above  criticised,  The  Survey,  Feb.  4,  1911, 
Lauck,  W.  Jett:   Industrial  Communities,  The  Survey,  Jan.  i, 

1911. 
LovEjOY,  Owen  R.  :   Cost  of  the  Cranberry  Sauce,  The  Survey, 

Jan.  I,  1911. 
PoUtical  Science    Quarterly:    Levasseur's   American  Workman, 

13:321,  1898. 
Rhodes,  J.  F. :  The  Molly  Maguires  in  the  Anthracite  Region  of 

Pennsylvania,  American  Historical  Review,  15:  547,  1910. 
Ripley,  William  Z.  :   Race  Factors  in  Labor  Unions,  Atlantic 

Monthly,  93  :  299,  1904. 
Roberts,  Peter:    The  Foreigner   and  His  Savings,  Charities, 

21:757,  1909. 
Speare,    Charles    F.  :    What   America   Pays   Europe   for   Im- 
migrant Labor,  North  American  Review,  187 :  106,  1908. 

POLITICAL  RELATIONS 

Books 

Franklin,  Frank  G.  :  The  Legislative  History  of  Naturalization 

in  the  United  States,  1906. 
United  States  Bureau  of  Immigration  and  Naturalization :  Natu- 

raUzation  Laws,  1911. 

Magazine  Articles,  etc. 

McMaster,  J.  B.  :   The  Riotous  Career  of  the  Know-Nothings, 
Forum,  17  :  524,  1894. 

RELIGIOUS  RELATIONS 

Books 
United  States  Bureau  of  the  Census :  Religious  Bodies,  igo6. 

Magazine  Articles,  etc. 
Coudert,  Frederic  R.  :    The  American  Protective  Association, 

Forum,  17:  513,  1894. 
Gladden,  W.  :  The  Anti-Catholic  Crusade,  Century,  25 :  789, 1894. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  447 

White,  Gaylord  S.  :  The  Protestant  Church  and  the  Immigrant, 

The  Survey,  Sept.  25,  igog. 
Winston,  E.  M.  :    The  Threatening  Conflict  with  Romanism, 

Forum,  17  :  425,  1894. 

SOCIAL  RELATIONS 

Books 

Aronovici,  Carol:   Some  Nativity  and  Race  Factors  in  Rhode 

Island,  1910. 
Bingham,  T.  A. :  The  Girl  that  Disappears,  1911. 
BoNAR,  J. :  Malthus  and  His  Work,  1885. 
Bourne,  S.  :  Trade,  Population,  and  Food,  1880. 
United  States  Bureau  of  the  Census ;   Insane  and  Feeble-Minded 

in  Hospitals  and  Institutions,  1906  ;  Paupers  in  Almshouses, 

1904 ;    Prisoners  and  Juvenile  Delinquents  in  Institutions, 

1907. 
White,  Arnold  :  The  Destitute  Ahen  in  Great  Britain,  1892. 

Magazine  Articles,  etc. 

Bingham,  T.  A. :  Foreign  Criminals  in  New  York,  North  Amer- 
ican Review,  188  :  383,  1908. 

Bushee,  F.  a.  :  The  Declining  Birth  Rate  and  Its  Cause,  Popular 
Science  Monthly,  63  :  355,  1903. 

Claghorn,  K.  H.  :  Immigration  and  Dependence,  Charities, 
12:151,  1904;  Immigration  in  its  Relation  to  Pauperism, 
Annals  American  Academy  of  Political  Science,  24 :  187,  1904. 

Commons,  John  R.  :  City  Life,  Crime,  and  Poverty,  Chautauquan, 
38:  118,  1903. 

Davenport,  Charles  B.  :  The  Origin  and  Control  of  Mental 
Defectiveness,  Popular  Science  Monthly,  80:87,  1912. 

DuNRAVEN,  Earl  of  :  The  Invasion  of  Destitute  Aliens,  Nine- 
teenth Century,  31 :  985,  1892. 

Fairchild,  H.  p.  :  Distribution  of  Immigrants,  Yale  Review, 
16 :  296,  1907. 

Fisher,  S.  G.  :  Alien  Degradation  of  American  Character,  Forum, 
14:608,  1893;  Has  Immigration  Increased  the  Population? 
Popular  Science  Monthly,  48  :  244,  1895. 

Hart,  H.  H.  :  Immigration  and  Crime,  American  Journal  of 
Sociology,  2  :  369,  1896. 


448  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Hunter,  Robert  :    Immigration  the  Annihilator  of  our  Native 

Stock,  The  Commons,  9:  114,  1904. 
Monthly  Chronicle :    Pauperism  in    Massachusetts,  3 :  564,  1842. 
Patten,  S.  N.  :    A  New  Statement  of  the  Law  of  Population, 

Political  Science  Quarterly,  10:  44,  1895. 
Ross,  E.  A. :   Western  Civilization  and  the  Birth  Rate,  American 

Journal  of  Sociology,  12  :  607,  1907. 
RossiTER,   W.    S. :     The   Diminishing   Increase   of   Population, 

Atlantic  Monthly,  102:  212,  1908. 
Round,  William  M.  F.  :  Immigration  and  Crime,  Fonmi,  8  :  428, 

1889. 
TuKE,  J.  W. :    State  Aid  to  Immigrants,  Nineteenth  Century, 

17:280,  1885. 
White,  Arnold  :  The  Invasion  of  Pauper  Foreigners,  Nineteenth 

Century,  23  :  414,  1888. 
Willcox,  W.  F.  :   The  Distribution  of  Immigrants  in  the  United 

States,  Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics,  20:  523,  1906. 

STANDARD  OF  LIVING 

Books 

Chapin,  Robert  C.  :  The  Standard  of  Living  Among  Working- 
men's  Families  in  New  York  City,  1909. 

Streightoff,  Frank  H.  :  The  Standard  of  Living  Among  the 
Industrial  People  of  America,  191 1. 

Magazine  Articles,  etc. 

Almy,  Frederic:    The  Huddled  Poles  of  Buffalo,  The  Survey, 

Feb.  4,  1911. 
Breckenridge,    Sophonisba,   and    Abbott,   Edith:    Housing 

Conditions  in  Chicago,  American  Journal  of  Sociology,  16  :  289, 

433;   17:  I,  14s,  1910-11- 
Chapin,  Robert  C.  :  Living  Costs :  A  World  Problem,  The  Survey, 

Feb.  3,  1912. 

Hunt,  Milton  B.  :  The  Housing  of  Nonfamily  Groups  of  Men 
in  Chicago,  American  Journal  of  Sociology,   16 :  145, 1910. 

Mark,  Mary  L.  :  The  Upper  East  Side  :  A  Study  in  Living  Con- 
ditions and  Migration,  American  Statistical  Association, 
10:345,  1907. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  449 

Thompson,   Carl  D.  :    Socialists  and   Slums,   Milwaukee,   The 

Survey,  Dec.  3,  1910. 
Ward,  Robert  De  C.  :  Congestion  and  Immigration,  The  Survey, 

Sept.  9,  191 1. 

SHIPPING   CONDITIONS 

Magazine  Articles,  etc. 

AU  the  Year  Round :  Aboard  an  Emigrant  Ship,  7  :  in,  1862. 

Chambers'  Journal:  Emigrant  Ship  Washington,  16:27,  1851; 
Trip  in  an  Emigrant  Ship,  etc.,  i :  228,  262,  302,  1844. 

Living  Age:  Scenes  in  Emigrant  Ships,  26:  492,  1850. 

United  States  Senate  Reports :  Sickness  and  Mortality  on  Board 
Emigrant  Ships,  33d  Congress,  ist  Session,  Committee  Re- 
port No.  386,  1853-54. 


SO 


INDEX 


Advertising,  153. 

Age  distribution  of  immigrants,  ig4- 

196,  316. 
Agents,  132,  148-160. 
Agriculture,  59,  72,  263. 
Alaric,  13. 

Alexander  the  Great,  15. 
Alien  Bill,  57. 
Almhouses,  paupers  in,  312,  318,  319. 

320. 
American  Protective  Association,  294. 
American  type,  51,  147,  399,  408. 
Americanization.     See  Assimilation. 
Ancient  Order  of  Hibernians,  95. 
Appeals,  III,  114,  116,  185. 
Argentina,  22,  27,  137. 
Arguments     concerning     immigration, 

~  i8a-4is. ' 

AssiniiIa!ion,  51,  58,  69,  103,  130,  194, 
196,  199.  202,  231,  257,  327,  369, 
375.  397-415- 

Assimilation  argument,  397. 

Assisted  immigration,  159. 

Association,  409. 

Attitude  toward  immigrants,  of  colo- 
nists, 38,  41,  43,  45,  46;  of  American 
people,  54,  65,  88,  99,  164.  See  also 
Race  prejudice. 

Australia,  22,  24,  27. 

Austria-Hungary,  128,  134-136. 

Austro- American  Company,  171. 

Avars,  14. 

Bellevue  and  Allied  Hospitals,  321,  339. 

Berths,  175. 

Biological  argument,  390,  397. 

Birds  of  passage,  126,  359. 

Birth  rate,  European,  420;  foreign- 
bom,  222,  225,  298,  377;  native, 
215-218,  375. 

Births,  298. 

Black  Hand,  334. 

Boarders,  239,  242,  243-246,  253,  262. 

Bohemians,  73. 

Bonding  shipowners,  41,  45,  75,  76,  77, 
78,  80. 

45 


Boot-blacking.     See  Shoe-shining. 

Boston,  282. 

Brutality  at  immigrant  stations,  186. 

Buffalo,  239. 

Bulgaria,  142. 

Cabin  passengers,  183. 

California,  99. 

Canada,  22,  27,  79,  81, 133,  168;  aliens 
arriving  in,  121. 

Canals,  62,  63. 

Carolina  colonies,  35. 

Castle  Garden,  80,  91. 

Causes  of  immigration,  34,  131,  144; 
from  Austria-Hungary,  134;  Bul- 
garia, 142  ;  China,  98;  Germany,  72; 
Ireland,  73  ;  Italy,  136;  Russia,  139; 
Scandinavia,  93. 

Causes  of  migration,  3,  5. 

Certificate  of  citizenship,  365. 

Chain-letter  system,  156-157. 

Charitable  organizations,  312,  328,  413. 

Charity  organization  societies,  313, 
318,  322,  326. 

Chicago,  278. 

Children,  occupations  of,  266. 

China,  17. 

Chinese,  98-105. 

Cities,  growth  of,  374. 

Civil  War,  86,  90. 

Cleanliness,  242,  247. 

Climatic  changes,  14. 

Clothing  of  immigrants,  256-257. 

Colonies  classified,  17. 

Colonists,  29. 

Colonization,  16,  28. 

Commissioner  General  of  Immigration, 

113.  114- 
Commissioners  of  Emigration  in  New 

York,  76,  79. 
Company  houses,  254. 
Conditions.    See  separate  headings,  i.e. 

Housing,  Sc.\,  Wages,  etc. 
Congestion,  228-231,  236-242. 
Conjugal    conditions    of    immigrants, 

201-202. 


452 


INDEX 


Conquest,  14. 

Conservation,  382,  304. 

Contract  labor  laws,  go,  108,  iii,  153- 

154.  279- 

Contract  labor  system,  277-280. 

Control-stations,  German,  173. 

Convicts,  imported.  See  Criminals  im- 
ported. 

Cooperative  housekeeping,  247. 

Crime,  328-338. 

Crime  argument,  3gs. 

Criminals,  imported,  43,  44,  48,  56,  67. 

Crises,  123,  347-361. 

Deaths,  298. 

Debarred  aliens,  207-211,  336. 
Declaration  of  intention,  364. 
Density  of  population,  228,  375. 
Departing  aUens,  116, 124-128,347,  351. 
Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor 

created,    114. 
Department  of  Labor,  118. 
Depopulation,  424,  426.  ' 

'-    Deportation,  57,  102,  109,  112,  114,  118,- 

337- 

Destination  of  immigrants,  206-207. 

Destitution,  40,  317.  See  also  Pau- 
perism. 

Discharging,  290. 

Discoveries  Period,  27.  '"  ~ 

Disease,  86,  209-211. 

Displacement,  133,  235,  342. 

Dissatisfaction,  as  a  cause,  of  immigra- 
tion, 133,  14s,  148;  of  migration,  4. 

Distribution  argument,  394,  435. 

Distribution  of  immigrants,  207,  226- 
232. 

Early  population  movements,  i. 

East  Indians,  168. 

Economic  argument,  391.  _j. 

Economic  competition,  50,  57,  69,  105, 
222,  302,  342. 

Economic  conditions  of  immigrants  in 
colonial  period,  40 ;  in  modern  period, 
204-206. 

Economic  nature  of  immigration,  145, 
341.  363,  428. 

Economics,  practical,  433. 

Effects  of  immigration.  See  separate 
headings,  i.e.  Housing,  Standard  of 
Living,  Wages,  etc.  See  also  Argu- 
ments. 


Effects  of  migration,  8. 

Ellis  Island,  183-185. 

Embargo,  59. 

Embarkation,    conditions    at    port   of, 

•   169. 

Emigrant    aliens,    defined,    125.       See 

also  Departing  aliens. 
Encouragement  of  immigration,  55,  60, 

62,  87,  90,  383,  389;   forbidden,  no. 
England,  colonists  from,  32. 
English,  401. 
English  language,  ability  to  speak,  267, 

272,  327,  36s,  401. 
Environment,  406. 
Europe,  14,  17,  167,  417. 
Examination  in  Europe,  171. 
Excluded  classes,  76,  78,  105,  107,  no, 

113,  US- 
Exclusion.     See  Debarred  aliens. 
Exclusion  of  Chinese,  102,  113. 
Exploitation,  of  immigrants,  79,  274- 

289,  291 ;  of  resources,  382,  391-392. 

Family  incomes,  261. 

Famine,  Irish,  72,  421. 

Farm  colonies,  17,  22. 

Farms,  210,  211. 

Federal  laws,  61,  82,  87,  90,  102,  105, 

106-120,  386. 
Feeble-mindedness,  339. 
Food,   of    immigrants    in    the    United 

States,  254-256;    on  shipboard,  83, 

176-179. 
Foreign- American  societies,  405. 
Foreign-born  population,   number  and 

race,  214. 
Foreign  missions,  296,  401. 
Fraud  in  naturalization,  367. 
French,  71. 

Gains  of  immigrants,  428-430. 

Germans,  s:i,  71,  84,  92. 

Germany.     See  Germans. 

Goths,  II. 

Greece,  17,  422,  426. 

Greek  Orthodox  Church,  141. 

Greeks,  150,  157,  159,  275,  33^. 

Gresham's  Law,  342. 

Haida  Indians,  3. 
Hamburg-American    emigrant    village, 

170. 
Head  forms,  407. 


INDEX 


453 


Head  tax,  42,  74,  76,  77,  78,  107,  113, 

US- 
Hebrews.     See  Jews. 
Heredity,  406. 
Hindus.     See  East  Indians. 
Historical  analogies,  414.  •* 

History  of  immigration,  27. 
Hospitals,  43 ;   private,  80.      See  also 

Bellevue  and  Allied  Hospitals. 
Housing  conditions,  234-254. 
Huguenots,  24,  53. 
Humanity,  point  of  view  of,  431. 
Huns,  14. 

Illegal  entrance  argument,  396. 
.  Illiteracy,  197-201,  325. 
Imitation,  409. 

Immigrant  Aid  Societies,  289-293. 
Immigrant  aliens  defined,  125. 
Immigrant  banks,  283-287. 
Immigrant  Homes,  289-293. 
Immigration    Commission    authorized, 

117. 
Immigration  defined,  20,  26. 
Immorality,  in  the  United  States,  292, 

335;  on  shipboard,  87,  179. 
Importation  of  paupers  and  criminals, 

40,  43,  64,  68. 
Indented  servants,  48. 
Indentured    servants.     See    Indented 

servants. 
India,  16. 
Indifiference,  411. 
Indifference  argument,  393. 
Induced    immigration,    93,    132,    148- 

162,  379,  387. 
Industrial  depressions,  92, 123, 124,  145. 
Insanity,  338. 
Inspection  of  immigrants,   in  Canada 

and  Mexico,  121 ;  on  arrival,  43,  iii, 

183-188;  on  embarkation,  170. 
Inspectors  on  shipboard,  182,  434. 
Intellectual  qualities  of  immigrants,  197. 
Interbreeding,  390,  397. 
Interest  rates,  353. 
Interests,  387. 

Intermarriage,  202,  299,  397,  400. 
Internal  migration,  90,  373. 
Invasion,  10. 

Ireland,  421.     See  also  Irish. 
Irish,  63,  69,  71.  83,  92,  94,  146,  238,  310, 

368. 
Italians,  238,  240,  241,  334. 


Italy,  13,  128,  136,  423-426.  See  also 
Italians. 

Japanese,  167. 

Jews,  8,  23,  139,  238,  241,  288,  296,  362. 

Juvenile  ddinquency,  298,  337. 

Know-Nothing  Party,  85. 

Labor.  See  Wages,  Standard  of  Liv- 
ing, Shortage  of  Labor,  etc. 

Labor  agents,  153. 

Labor  conditions,  346. 

Labor-saving  devices,  344. 

Laissez-faire,  385. 

Land.     See  Ratio  of  men  to  land. 

Laws.  See  Federal  laws  and  State 
laws. 

Liquor,  63,  332. 

Literacy,  267. 

Literacy  test,  197,  199-201. 

Living  wage,  264-266. 

Loan  sharks,  160. 

Lodgers.     See  Boarders. 

London  Company,  30. 

Losses  of  immigrants,  429. 

Lumber  camps,  282. 

Magyars,  14. 

Maine,  282. 

Malthusianism,  219-221,  381,  416. 

Manifests,  iii,  112,  172. 

Manufacturing  industries,  59,  62,  259, 

375- 
Marine  Hospital,  New  York,  74,  76. 
Marine  Hospital    Service,   officers  of, 

III,  172,  184. 
Marriages,  299. 
Maryland  colony,  44,  47. 
Massachusetts,    colony,    31,    37,    46; 

State,  78. 
May  Laws,  141. 
Mennonites,  33. 

Methods  of  emigration  agents,  149. 
Migration,  defined,  2  ;  forced,  23  ;  intra- 
state, 24. 
Migration,  seasonal,  2,  3;  causes  of,  3. 

a;    classified,   6;    economic,   6,    12; 

political,  7  ;    social,  7  ;    religious,   7  ; 

effects  of,  8 ;  routes  of,  9. 
Milwaukee,  240,  314. 
Mining,  94. 
Mining  communities,  246,  248,  253. 


4S4 


INDEX 


Missionaries,  2go,  2Q2. 
Molly  Maguires,  04-98,  334. 
Money  brought  in,  202-204. 
Money  sent  home,  157,  158-160,  204, 

287,  326,  34S>  421.  424- 
Moors,  23. 
Moral  dangers,  295. 
Mores,  10,  15,  16,  403. 
Mortgages,  150,  160,  278. 
Motives  of  migration,  5. 

Native  American  Party,  70,  81. 
Naturalization,   58,   70,   85,    loi,   114, 
IIS,  272,  363,  364-368.^ 
\^^[ew  immigration,  i^STTspT" 
New  Jersey  colony,  32,  35. 
New  Netherland,  31. 
New-type  steerage,  180-181. 
New  York  City,  289,  329,  331. 
New  York,  colony,  32,  35,  46  ;  State, 

74- 
Nonemigrant  aliens,  359;  defined,  125. 
Nonimmigrant    aliens,    359;     defined, 

125- 

North  Carolina,  colony,  44;  State,  57. 
Notary  public,  287. 
Numbers  argument,  393. 


Occupations  of   immigrants,    204-206, 


223. 


Old  immigration,  128,  249. 

Old-type  steerage,  174-180. 

Open-door  policy,  383,  388. 

Opposition  to  immigration,  41,  54,  68, 
69,  70,  81,  85,  91,  99,  104.  See  also 
Arguments.  . 

Orders  in  Council,  59. 

Overcrowding  on  shipboard,  44,  61,  82, 
87,  180.     See  also  Congestion. 

Overpopulation  6,  12,  14,  16,  136,  138, 

383. 
Overproduction,  352. 

Padrone  system,  274-277. 
Palatinate,  34. 
Palatines,  33,  34- 
Panic  of  1907,  286,  350. 
Parochial  schools,  273,  411. 
Pauperism,  63,  84,  311-328. 
Pauperism  argument,  395. 
Paupers,  imported,  64. 
Penal  colonies,  24. 


-{-Public  schools,  252,  270-272,  410. 


Pennsylvania,  colony,  32,  33, 36,  39,  41 ; 
State,  56,  94. 

Peonage  system,  280-283. 

Persons  per  room,  237. 

Petition  for  naturalization,  364. 

Philanthropy,  413. 

Phoenicia,  17. 

Physical  conditions  of  immigrants,  co- 
lonial period,  40;  1 820-1 860,  64, 
81;  modem  period,   209-211. 

Physiological  analogy,  398. 

Plantation  colonies,  18. 

Plymouth  colony,  31. 

Plymouth  Company,  30. 

Poles,  239,  241. 

Politics,  70,  363-368. 

Poorhouses,  private,  80. 

Population,  effect  of  emigration  upon, 
416-421,  423;  effect  of  immigration 
upon,  215-225,  341- 

Population  movements,  four  forms  of,  2. 

Potato,  73. 

Prepaid  tickets,  158,  169,  284,  379. 

Presbyterians,  33,  37. 

Prices,  137,  302,  307,  352,  422,  425. 

Prisoners,  330. 

Protection,  289. 

Protestantism,  46,  51,  70,  297. 

Provisions  on  shipboard,  61. 

Public  domain,  372. 


Quakers,  33,  47. 

Quality  of  immigrants,  377-380,  395, 
419. 

Race  prejudice,  39,  99,  103,  297,  362, 

397.  411- 
Racial  composition,  128-131,  189,  369. 
Railroads,  62,  63. 
Ratio  of  men  to  land,  6,  21,  38,  88,  146, 

303,  370-373,  381. 
Recreations,  299. 
Redemptioners,  48. 
Reformation,  Protestant,  33,  34. 
Regulation,  386. 
Religion,  293-298. 
Reniedics,_4i4:=436. 

Remittances.    See  Money  sent  home. 
Responsibility   of   the   United   States, 

382,  387,  432-436. 
Restriction,  42,  ^937394.  436. 
Retardation,  272. 


INDEX 


455 


Returned  emigrants,  iS7-is8,  422,  424, 

426. 
Revolution  of  1848,  72. 
Rhode  Island  colony,  47. 
Roman  Catholicism,  34,  47,  70,  85,  293. 
Roman  Empire,  12. 
Rome,  13,  IS.  i7- 
Rooms  per  apartment,  236. 
Routes  of  migration,  q. 
Runners,  79.     See  also  Agents. 
Russia,  22,  128,  139. 

Sanitarj'  provisions  on  shipboard,  176  ; 

on  land,  see  Housing  conditions. 
Savings,  284,  323,  345,  357. 
Scandinavians,  93. 
Schools,  269-273.     See  also  Parochial 

schools  and  Public  schools. 
Scotch-Irish,  S3,  36. 
Second  generation,  403. 
Sentimental  argument,  388. 
Sex  distribution  of  immigrants,   190- 

194,  317,  419- 
Ship  fever,  84. 
Shipping,  59,  84,  91,  131. 
Shipping  conditions,  59,  63,   81.     See 

also  Voyage. 
Shoe-shining  industry,  275-277,  282. 
Shortage  of  labor,  344,  357. 
Skye,  Isle  of.  419. 
Slavery,  19,  24,  30,  164. 
Slums,  234,  242,  251,  403. 
Social  argument,  390. 
Social  stratification,  361. 
Sociology,  applied,  384,  387,  433. 
Sources  of  immigration,  167,  419. 
South  Africa,  22,  27. 
Special  inquiry,  boards  of,  113, 114, 185. 
Standard  of  living,  221,  324-273,  303- 

310,  417- 
Standard  of  living  argument,  394. 
Standpoints,  385,  388. 
State  laws,  74-81,  104. 
Statistics  of  immigration,  authorized, 

62. 
Steerage  conditions,  86,  174-182. 
Steerage  legislation,  82,  87,  1 18-120. 
Steerage  rates,  148,  181. 
Stimulated  immigration.     See  Induced 

immigration. 


Stimulation  argument,  396. 

Stowaways,  121. 

Superintendent  of  Immigration,  in, 

113- 
Supreme  Court  decisions,  77. 
Sweat  shops,  288. 
Sweden,  colonists  from,  31. 

Tamerlane.     See  Timur. 

Tariff,  60,  92. 

Temporary  immigration,  138,  379. 

Theodoric,  13. 

Timur,  14. 

Trachoma,  209,  210,  211. 

Trade-unions,  310. 

Tradition,  383,  392. 

Transit,  aliens  in,  121,  125-126. 

Transportation     companies,    148-153, 

170,  175,  207. 
Treaties  with  China,  loi. 

Underconsumption,  352,  357. 
•Unemployment,  352. 
United  Hebrew  Charities,  323. 
United    States,    22,    24,    27,    53,    382, 
388. 

Ventilation,  of  steerage,  178;  of  houses, 

see  Housing  conditions. 
Virginia  colony,  30. 
Volume  of  immigration,  1783-1820,  53; 

1820-1860,   62,   73,   74;    1860-1882, 

92;    1882-1912,  102,  106,   123-128; 

1820-1912,  189,  369,  384. 
Voyage,  39.  61,  83,  174,  379. 

Wages  argument,  394- 

Wages,  in  Europe,  422;  in  Italy,  137, 

424 ;  in  the  United  States,  258-264, 

301-310,  354. 
Wandering,  defined,  i,  10. 
War  of  1 81 2,  SO- 
Wealth,  amount  of,  345 ;    distribution 

of,  346 ;  growth  of,  392 ;  love  of,  41 1. 
Weekly  earnings,  260. 
White  slavery,  296,  334-337.  36S- 

Yearly  earnings,  261,  276. 
Young    Men's    Christian    Association, 
297. 


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The  New  Immigration 


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and  physiological  bases  of  behavior,  through  the  behavior 
of  the  lower  animals  to  the  behavior  of  man,  the  final 
chapters  describing  the  factors  of  social  evolution. 

The  book  contains  much  that  is  vital  to  psychologists, 
anthropologists,  and  social  scientists,  and  will  be  of  great 
value  to  the  general  reader,  bringing  together  in  convenient 
form  the  results  of  work  which  is  of  so  much  significance 
for  the  study  of  human  behavior  and  human  nature.  To 
those  engaged  in  educational  work  it  will  be  of  great  use, 
and  will  be  found  valuable  as  a  college  and  university  text- 
book in  certain  courses  in  psychology  and  sociology. 

"  It  is  an  important,  scholarly  book  which  promises  to  be  of  great 
interest  and  aid  to  students  of  psycholosjy,  ethics,  anthropology,  and 
some  departments  of  sociology."  —  Professor  Ross  of  the  University 
of  Wisconsin. 

"The  materials  upon  which  it  is  based  have  been  accumulating  for 
some  time,  and  in  Professor  Parmelee  we  seem  to  have  found  the  master 
hand  to  shape  them.  His  purpose  of  carrying  the  evolution  of  human 
nature  and  culture  into  wider  fit-Ids.  using  this  book  as  a  basis,  is  com- 
mendable."—  Professor  Gowi.n  of  Wesleyan  University. 


THE   MACMILLAN   COMPANY 

Publishers  64  66  Fifth  Avenue  New  York 


Genetics.      An  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  Heredity 
By  HERBERT    EUGENE   WALTER 

Assistant  Professor  of  Biology,  Brown  University 

Cloth,  i2mo,  $1.50  net ;  postpaid,  $i.6j 

In  his  "  Genetics  "  Professor  Walter  summarizes  the  more  re- 
cent phases  of  the  study  of  heredity  and  gives  to  the  non-technical 
readers  a  clear  introduction  to  questions  that  are  at  present  agitat- 
ing the  biological  world. 

Professor  Walter's  conception  of  sexual  reproduction  is  that  it 
is  a  device  for  doubhng  the  possible  variations  in  the  offspring,  by 
the  mingling  of  two  strains  of  germ  plasm.  The  weight  of  prob- 
ability, he  concludes,  is  decidedly  against  the  time-honored  belief 
in  the  inheritance  of  acquired  characters.  Professor  Walter  also 
predicts  that  the  key  to  this  whole  problem  will  be  furnished  by 
the  chemist,  and  that  the  final  analysis  of  the  matter  of  the 
"  heritage  carriers  "  will  be  seen  to  be  chemical  rather  than  mor- 
phological in  nature.  In  the  practical  application  of  this  theory  to 
human  conservation  or  eugenics,  it  would  follow  that  the  only  con- 
trol that  a  man  has  over  the  inheritance  of  his  children  is  in 
selecting  his  wife.  Professor  Walter  holds,  if  only  modifications 
of  the  germ  plasm  can  count  in  inheritance,  and  if  these  modifica- 
tions come  wholly  from  the  combination  of  two  germ  plasms,  then 
the  only  method  of  hereditary  influence  is  in  this  selection. 

"  I  find  that  it  is  a  very  useful  study  for  an  introduction  to  the  subject.  Professor 
Walter  has  certainly  made  one  of  the  clearest  statements  of  the  matters  involved 
that  I  have  seen,  and  has  made  a  book  which  students  will  find  very  useful  because 
he  keeps  everything  in  such  entirely  simple  and  clear  outlines,  and  at  the  same 
time  he  has  brought  the  book  up  to  date."  —  Professor  Loomis  of  Amherst 
College. 

"  I  am  much  pleased  with  it  and  congratulate  you  upon  securing  so  excellent  a 
treatment.  It  is  one  of  the  most  readable  scientific  books  I  have,  and  goes  uner- 
ringly to  the  fundamentals  of  our  most  recent  advances  in  the  experimental  study  of 
heredity  as  well  as  those  of  the  older  studies."  —  Professor  George  H.  Shull, 
Cold  Spring  Harbor,  Long  Island,  N.  Y. 

"  There  was  a  decided  need  for  just  such  a  work.  The  book  strikes  me  as  most 
excellently  done."  —  PROFESSOR  H.  S.  Jennings,  Johns  Hopkins  University. 


THE    MACMILLAN    COMPANY 

Publishers  64-66  Fifth  Avenue  New  York 


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UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  BERKELEY 
FORM  NO.  DD6,  60m,  12/80        BERKELEY,  CA  94720 


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